Clausole sociali, concorrenza, investimento pubblico e tutela del lavoro: dal Codice dei contratti pubblici al PNRR

The social clauses play an important role in the Italian legal system. This importance has grown in recent decades, especially in correspondence with the processes of outsourcing of the activities of companies and public administrations. Recently, further provisions have been provided for in the framework of the implementation of the NRRP and NPC. This article analyzes the main legal problems raised by this regulatory technique, in the light of the complex interweaving between competition regulation, labor protection and public interests that underlies it. In particular, we focus on the limits imposed by jurisprudence on the definition of the content of the so-called «second generation» social clauses for the promotion of employment; on the most recent regulatory interventions to protect gender and generational equality in access to employment; finally, on the interactions between social clauses and trade union system