Unequal by Design? Reclaiming Digital Access as a Fundamental Right in the EU

Abstract This article explores the EU’s evolving approach to digital inclusion, focusing on how current policies and legal frameworks address the needs of vulnerable groups. Despite ambitious targets under the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030, large disparities persist along lines of age, education, geography, and migration status. Drawing on recent Eurostat data, legal analysis, and case studies from Member States, the article identifies key structural and design-based barriers that prevent meaningful participation in the digital society. It argues that digital inclusion must go beyond infrastructure and skills training to become a guaranteed right, integrated into enforceable legal standards. The analysis highlights both progress and critical gaps in EU policy, such as a lack of binding subgroup targets and uneven accessibility provisions. The article concludes with concrete recommendations for turning digital inclusion from an aspirational value into a legal, operational, and measurable component of European citizenship.