La protezione dei dati personali nell'integrazione europea

The research deals with data protection law and the process of European integration, and aims to answer to the questions: can national States still defend the right to the protection of personal data in the new digital-globalisation era? And which role will the European Union play in the safeguard of this right? The subject of this thesis is thus the relationship between the member States and the European Union in the protection of personal data. The first chapter concerns multilevel constitutionalism and the relevance of the development of public policies about data protection. In addition, it investigates the existence of this right in the Italian Constitution and its autonomy from the different right to privacy. The second chapter deals with the creation of a common idea of data protection within the EU, its frame and its contents. It focuses also on GDPR’s capacity to become a global standard for the defence of personal data. The third chapter concerns the mechanisms to preserve the shared concept of data protection in all the member States. In particular, it examines the importance of national supervisory authorities and judges in the implementation of this right. The last chapter dwells on the key concepts of the research and includes my personal conclusions. In my opinion, the right to the protection of personal data offers a favoured perspective to analyse the process of European integration, revealing, from a constitutional point of view, the strengthening of the bonding between the national and the European legal orders.