The Right to Work in the Italian Constitution and in Community Law. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" N. 1/2002

[From the Introduction]. Of the fundamental principles of the Italian constitution, the right to work (Art.4) is the one which has been most affected by the weight of historical development. In the early days of the Constitution, its bibding (sic) nature was the subject of excessive debate because, as G. F. Mancini remarked in the 1970s, it derived from an ideological juxtaposition between a planned economy and market economy. Althought some of the points put forward in the debate were developed by subsequent legislation, (including the connection between the right to work and protection against unfair dismissal), the right to work has not achieved its aspired-to status as the cardinal norm of the labour law system. Beyond the ideological polarisation of that time, the constitutional provisions deserve to be reconsidered and "take seriously" nowadays, at a time when the issue of work has become a focal point in all plans for a future society, and a new collation of public powers in the economy, centering around the European Union, requires reconsideration of the role of the nation state