La Corte Costituzionale riconosce diritti sociali e misure di welfare alle famiglie dei cittadini extracomunitari

Abstract

The article proposes a critical reading of two decisions by the Italian Constitutional Court: no. 54/2022, and no. 67/2022, which examine the constitutionality of certain social security regulations in light of the principle of equal treatment and the prohibition of discrimination (Articles 3, 31, 117 Const.). The measures under scrutiny by the Court, with regard to Judgment No. 54, were the birth allowance or bonus bebè and the maternity allowance, recognized by Italian law only to long-term resident foreigners (and not also to those with a different residence permit), thus creating discrimination among foreigners, in violation of the right to equal treatment of third-country nationals legally residing and working in a member state. With reference to Judgment No. 67, on the other hand, the illegitimacy of the rules on the family nucleus allowance, granted to Italian citizens, was assessed, regardless of the fact that family members have residence in Italy, a requirement instead for the family members of foreigners. In both decisions, the logical-argumentative procedure is constructed along two fundamental guidelines, which the author analyze in deep, also proposing some critical insights: the first focused on the principle of equal treatment and the prohibition of discrimination, and the second on the principle of the supremacy of European Union law and the maximum expansion of guarantees.