Il Digital Welfare state in Europa: tensioni costituzionali e prospettive evolutive

This essay examines the digital transformation of the Welfare State across the Member States of the European Union, with particular focus on healthcare, pension, and social assistance systems. The analysis explores the impact of the digital transition along three main dimensions: (i) the digitalization of the competent public administrations; (ii) the implementation of decision-making algorithms in administrative procedures; and (iii) the reconfiguration of service delivery models, with specific attention to the deployment of telemedicine. In the first dimension, the normative formant emerges as predominant, leading to an increase in legality standards imposed on public administrations. The second dimension highlights the rise of the jurisprudential formant, focused on legal challenges related to algorithmic opacity and the discriminatory effects stemming from automated decision-making. Finally, the third dimension reveals the difficulties faced by primary legal sources in balancing the technological benefits with a constitutionally grounded interpretation of the personalist principle, particularly within the context of care relationships.