Sulla salvaguardia dei diritti sociali tra interpretazioni della Costituzione economica e incertezze della recente giustizia costituzionale: alcune osservazioni

On the safeguarding of social rights, from interpretations of the Economic Constitution and
the uncertainties of recent constitutional justice: a number of observations
In this article, the author reflects on the difficulties in reconciling the Italian Economic
Constitution, the articles of which outline the principles of social utility and solidarity,
and the economic model of the European Union, revolving around the principles of the
free market and free trade. The analysis starts from the first half of the 1970s, when the
enormous budget deficits registered, which weighed heavily on the management of numerous bodies in the public sector, oriented the Italian legislator to take decisions leading to cuts in public spending, and to undertake economic policies concerning the supply side and the competitiveness of companies.
The author shows that over the last few years an alternative (yet criticisable) interpretation of the Economic Constitution has emerged, further supported by an authoritative
doctrine of an efficiency-oriented and mercantilist nature. This interpretation has also
been adopted in part by the Constitutional Court itself, especially after the modification
in 2012 of Art. 81 of the Constitution, which introduced – in compliance with the budget constraints imposed by the European Union – the so-called budget balance. However,
the author underlines the importance of recouping the true values of the Economic Constitution, which furthermore prevailed in the works of the Constituent Assembly, such as
equality, solidarity and social equity, especially in the wake of an economic and financial
crisis that has substantially eradicated the social state.