By Antonio Tejeda Encinas, President of the Euro-American Committee on Digital Law – CEA Digital Law and PCDD – Citizen Participation, Democracy and Law.
Introduction: The Productivity Dilemma in the Digital Society
Since the Industrial Revolution, productivity has driven economic development. By February 2025, automation and artificial intelligence had redefined the equation: efficiency was no longer limited by human effort, but by each company’s technological capacity.
The promise of unlimited productivity has led entire sectors to replace workers with robots. Logistics, manufacturing and service companies have automated tasks at an unprecedented pace. Yet this progress raises fundamental questions:
- Who controls this transformation?
- How can we prevent automation from becoming a driver of inequality?
- What role should the State, the law and civil society play in ensuring a fair transition?
In this context, two key actors emerge with complementary perspectives:
- The Euro-American Committee on Digital Law – CEA Digital Law analyzes how legislation must adapt to balance technological progress with the protection of labor and economic rights.
- PCDD, the Association for Citizen Participation in Defense of Fundamental Rights, Democracy and Digital Rights, warns of the social risks posed by uncontrolled automation and the need to ensure that digital transformation does not violate fundamental rights.
The debate is not merely technical or economic. It is a matter of democracy, fairness and digital governance.
Robotic Productivity: An Economic Engine or a Challenge for Society?
From a business perspective, automation is the perfect solution for increasing efficiency:
- Speed and precision. Robots do not tire or make fatigue-related mistakes.
- Lower costs. With no wages, social-security contributions or breaks, profitability grows exponentially.
- Process standardization. Quality remains constant and does not depend on human variability.
However, this model based on mechanical efficiency carries an extremely high social cost. Eliminating jobs not only displaces thousands of people, but changes the very structure of the economy.
PCDD has warned of the risk of a society polarized between those who control technology and those who are displaced, without employment or economic alternatives. Without corrective measures, automation could become a mechanism of social exclusion.
From the perspective of CEA Digital Law, the problem is legal and structural:
✔ A lack of regulation allows major corporations to concentrate productivity, placing small and medium-sized enterprises at a disadvantage.
✔ There are no clear laws on the taxation of automation: a company can replace thousands of employees without assuming social responsibilities.
✔ The European Union is debating rules governing AI’s impact on employment, but regulation remains inadequate.
If technology is redefining productivity, then digital law and citizen participation must define who will benefit from this change.
Spain and the Technology Gap: An Economic Model at Risk
Spain faces structural inequality in the adoption of automation. While major multinational companies accelerate their digitalization, SMEs lack the resources to compete in terms of productivity.
Key data as of February 2025
- The SME Digitalization Plan 2021-2025 has allocated €4.656 billion to business modernization, but fewer than 50% of SMEs have succeeded in implementing significant advances.
- While major companies have increased their investment in automation by 20% annually, digitalization among SMEs has grown by only 3%.
- SMEs generate 62% of Spain’s Gross Value Added, but their lack of access to automation leaves them in a vulnerable position.
PCDD warns that the failure to democratize technology is creating an economic model in which only major corporations can benefit from digital productivity.
CEA Digital Law, meanwhile, raises a crucial question: Should access to automation be regulated to prevent the creation of productivity monopolies?
✔ If only major companies can automate, the concentration of economic power will be inevitable.
✔ Labor law and taxation must be updated to reflect an economy in which machines generate wealth but people remain dependent on traditional income.
This is not merely a market problem. It is a matter of regulation and social balance.
Regulation and Alternatives: How Can We Prevent a Crisis of Jobless Productivity?
CEA Digital Law and PCDD agree that technological progress cannot be left exclusively in the hands of the private sector. We need public policies that regulate automation without hindering innovation.
Proposals from regulation and citizen participation
🔹 Taxes on automation. Companies that replace people with robots should contribute to a social compensation fund. ( CEA Digital Law)
🔹 Employment protection in the face of AI. Require companies to train their staff instead of dismissing them. ( CEA Digital Law)
🔹 Redistribution of the wealth generated by automation. Models such as universal basic income should form part of the public debate. ( PCDD)
🔹 Access to digitalization for SMEs. Accessible financing and digital-training mechanisms should be created for all businesses. ( PCDD )
Automation is not the problem. The problem is who controls its implementation and how its benefits are distributed.
Conclusion: Productivity Through Balance, Not Exclusion
The age of automation is not a futuristic scenario, but a present reality. The question is not whether machines will replace people, but how we structure the economy to prevent this transformation from creating extreme inequality.
For PCDD, the central concern is that unregulated automation may break the social compact, dividing society between those who control technology and those relegated to unemployment.
For CEA Digital Law, the focus is on the urgent need to update regulation so that future productivity is not a privilege enjoyed by major corporations, but an engine of equitable development.
The challenge is not technical. It is economic, legal and social. We need a strong legal framework and active citizen participation so that automation becomes a tool for progress rather than a mechanism of exclusion.
The productivity of the future must be a democratic and regulated choice, not a market imposition.
PCDD and CEA Digital Law: A Necessary Debate
✔ PCDD demands that digital transformation respect fundamental rights and guarantee an equitable productive model
✔ CEA Digital Law advocates rules that prevent the concentration of technological power and ensure a fair distribution of digital wealth.
Both organizations agree that the debate cannot wait. Automation is advancing, but the legal framework and citizen participation must advance with it.
Final Reflection: An Unprecedented Crisis in Spain
While major corporations accelerate their digitalization, Spain’s business fabric is approaching breaking point. SMEs’ lack of access to automation not only places them at a disadvantage, but threatens to destroy the country’s economic structure.
But the problem extends far beyond business competitiveness. If we allow productivity to remain in the hands of a few, Spain could face a social crisis unparalleled in its recent history. A country in which:
⚠ Millions of workers are displaced without economic alternatives.
⚠ The concentration of productive power among a handful of companies turns the economy into a digital oligopoly.
⚠ The collapse of employment leads to an irreversible social fracture, fueling extreme inequality.
We are not discussing a futuristic scenario. This is already happening. The decisions being made today will determine whether Spain enters a new age of digital equity or a crisis of inequality from which there is no return.
At CEA Digital Law and PCDD, we are promoting this debate in legislative forums and civil society. Automation is advancing, but regulation and social justice cannot be left behind.
Should we let technology decide the future, or should we be the ones who define the rules of the game?
Will we allow technology to reshape the economy without limits or checks? Productivity for whom? At what cost?
