I. Is there a national act containing a legal definition of Automated Administrative Decisions?

No, there isn’t. The use of AI (artificial intelligence) by Union agencies and institutions is regulated by Regulation (EU) No. 2024/1689 — the European Artificial Intelligence Regulation. While that Regulation does not define “automated administrative decision,” Article 3 describes artificial intelligence as:

“a machine-based system designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy and that may exhibit adaptiveness after deployment, and that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments.”

The Regulation, grounded in Article 114 TFEU, establishes harmonised rules on placing AI systems on the market, putting them into service, and using them within the Union. It sets out prohibitions on certain AI practices, specific requirements for high-risk AI systems, obligations for their operators, harmonised transparency rules for certain AI systems, and provisions for the placing on the market of general-purpose AI models.

In broad terms, the Regulation treats AI as a potentially risky product and adopts an approach proportional to the level of risk. Although it primarily addresses products, a systematic reading shows that it governs the development, marketing, and use of AI systems by both private entities and public bodies — including Union institutions and public administrations. This is reflected throughout the text: for example, Article 5 identifies prohibited practices (some touching on law-enforcement activities), Annex III (referenced in Article 6) lists sectors and functions that are typically public (access to essential public services, employment and personnel evaluation, justice and electoral processes, border control, policing, AI for critical infrastructure, and certain biometric systems).

The Regulation also imposes specific obligations on public deployers (see Articles 26–27), notably requiring impact assessments on fundamental rights, and provides for sanctions, with differentiated treatment for private and public entities. Although it is not a statute devoted exclusively to public administration or to automated administrative decision-making, it nonetheless imposes obligations on European administrations that develop or use AI systems in the performance of their duties.