Pavlína Hubková

Research Fellow at the University of Exeter

The development of digital technologies enables national administrative authorities across the EU to use automated decision-making tools or even systems based on artificial intelligence in the exercise of their public powers across all fields of administrative law. While some of these fields fall within the scope of EU law and others remain formally domestic, the digital tools and processes used by administrations are increasingly regulated by EU legislation, most prominently the GDPR and the AI Act. When national authorities rely on such regulated technologies, they act within the scope of EU law, irrespective of the substantive policy field concerned. This has constitutional implications. By acting under EU digital legislation, national authorities trigger the applicability of the EU Charter, which binds Member States whenever they implement EU law. Digitalisation and automation in administrative proceedings thus expand the practical reach of EU fundamental rights. The EU standard of fundamental rights thus has the capacity to shape harmonisation in the design and development of ADM or AI tools, as well as the reasoning and judicial review of ADM-generated or AI-assisted decisions. The article argues that the EU standard fosters a form of technology-driven harmonisation of national administrative practices that emerges indirectly from the regulation of digital tools, and it analyses its implications for both administrative authorities and national courts.

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