Social Rights in the Digital Era, Research Network, UNITA Universities Alliance
University of Zaragoza (Spain), Public University of Navarra (Spain), West University of Timișoara (Romania)
Venue : Mimi Hotel (Jolly Alon): 37 Maria Cebotari str. room Diva
Registration here
A round table on the challenges and opportunities for the European Social Charter and the social state in the digital era is proposed as a side event to the High Level Conference on the European Social Charter. The proposed speakers are a group of scholars affiliated with two Spanish universities (the University of Zaragoza and the Public University of Navarre) and one Romanian university (the West University of Timișoara). All three institutions are members of the international UNITA consortium. Digital technologies are redefining modes of production, access to public services, and democratic participation.
The exercise of fundamental rights—including social rights—is consequently challenged in multiple ways. The round table aims to contribute to the third objective of the High Level Conference: addressing contemporary social rights challenges.
Specifically, it seeks to: 1) Discuss key social issues such as the impact of the digital revolution on the content of social rights and the structure of the social state; 2) Consider the role of social rights in reinforcing democratic stability in an international context characterised by threats amplified by the digital revolution; 3) Analyse how the digital revolution generates new shortfalls and inequalities, and explore ways to address them.
Programme
“Social rights and the social State in the digital era: a conceptual approach”, Fernando Arlettaz, University of Zaragoza, Spain
“After hours: surveillance, disconnect and the erosion of social rights at work”, Andreea Verteș-Olteanu, West University of Timișoara, Romania
“Ensuring equal protection: a centralized digital and legal framework for persons with mental and physical disabilities”, Codruța Guzei Mangu, West University of Timișoara, Romania
“Social rights in the digital age: addressing migrant exclusion”, Bianca Șerb, West University of Timișoara, Romania
“Social rights in the digital era: the perspective of the European Social Charter”, Mario Vinković, member of the European Committee of Social Rights
Concept note
The social state is a form of political organisation that assumes redistributive and protective functions by regulating the economy, redistributing income through taxation and transfers, and providing essential services such as education, healthcare, pensions, and social assistance. Its legal and constitutional expression is found in economic, social, and cultural rights, grounded in the principle that individual freedom cannot be fully exercised without minimum material conditions of existence. The Council of Europe has been highly active in promoting these rights. As stated in the preamble to the Revised European Social Charter (ESC[R]), one of the Council’s objectives is to facilitate the economic and social progress of its member States, “in particular by the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms”.
Digital technologies are redefining modes of production, the organisation of work, access to public services, and democratic participation. The exercise of fundamental rights —including social rights— is consequently challenged in multiple ways. This transformation calls for a rethinking of the normative, institutional, and ethical foundations of the contemporary social state, as well as the role of the European Social Charter as a living instrument capable of responding to evolving conditions.
First, digitalisation has radically transformed modes of production and the labour market. Automation, platform-based work, teleworking, and artificial intelligence are reshaping employment structures, giving rise to new forms of precarity and posing significant challenges to traditional social security systems, which were designed around stable, in-person employment relationships. In addition to this, the management and delivery of public services are being reconfigured through digital technologies, producing ambivalent effects. On the one hand, tools such as online registration platforms, biometric systems, and digital identity verification can enhance efficiency and, to some extent, the transparency of public administration. On the other hand, they raise concerns about the declining quality of human interaction in service provision and the increasing reliance on private technological infrastructure. Finally, the mass collection of data and the use of algorithms give rise to new tensions between administrative efficiency and the safeguarding of individual rights —particularly with regard to privacy, access to information, and transparency in public decision-making.
The digital transformation therefore calls for an institutional and regulatory redesign of the social state —one that incorporates the principles of algorithmic justice, digital sovereignty, technological equity, and the effective protection of rights in virtual environments. The proposed round table aims to critically examine these transformations, with particular attention to the normative, social, and institutional challenges faced by the social state in adapting to the digital age, and to the role the European Social Charter can play in shaping this adaptation.
The round table aims to contribute to the third objective of the High Level Conference: addressing contemporary social rights challenges. Specifically, it seeks to: 1) Discuss key social issues such as the impact of the digital revolution on the context of social rights and the structure of the social state; 2) Consider the role of social rights in reinforcing democratic stability in an international context characterized by threats amplified by the digital revolution; 3) Analyse how the digital revolution generates new shortfalls and inequalities, and explore ways to address them.