We discuss about revision of the Pnrr but in fact the entire economic policy is involved, also through the use of the Cohesion Funds, the Repower Eu and the Complementary Fund, within the framework of the EU agenda on industrial policy and the new one Stability and Growth Pact.
The most evoked theme, in terms of revision of the PNRR, is that of the functioning of the country's administrative machine built to manage the ordinary and engaged between now and 2026 in an exercise that imposes the method of programming and extraordinary management, represented by the PNRR .
The challenge is not only that of organic and timely spending but also that of relationship with the territory, in which Municipalities and Regions will be engaged as well as the ability to mobilize private resources for the co-financing of Projects and to address sectoral bottlenecks.
More generally, it is to include the Projects in the EU's green light for national aid policy for industrial policy and in the constraints of the new Stability and Growth Pact, focusing attention both on the energy and digital transition and on the new logistics scenario
The recent Government Decree on the PNRR provides for the centralization at Palazzo Chigi of the decision-making bodies and central substitutive powers in the event of defaults and delays with the idea of realizing that planning and control capacity which is an essential condition for its success.
The centralization of European funds that brings together i 191,5 billion provided by NextGeEU with funds for cohesion policies (approximately 40 billion), those of Repower EU (approximately 9 billion) and those of the Complementary Fund (approximately 30 billion) budgeted by the Draghi Government, offers aunique occasion to implement an overall strategy for the development of the country.
For this strategy to be successful, it is necessary to respond to the need raised by the Group of 20 in the book "The PNRR. A challenge to overcome(2022)“, to make explicit the “fil rouge”, capable of ensuring the leap in productivity and growth that we absolutely need, because the PNRR is, to date, a demanding spending program with blocks of interventions (the “missions”) of whose interaction with respect to the development goal is not clear.
The Government's choice to put together Cohesion Funds and Pnrr, as well as Repower Eu and the Complementary Fund, can and must be an opportunity to identify a path that is not the mere centralization of funds but determines a commitment to design, also through these funds the road to development.
Energy transition: shifting the center of gravity from Russia to the Mediterranean requires precise actions
The approach to be adopted must, of course, move within one Political Economics in line with EU constraints and with the industrial policy launched by Europe and cannot fail to start from the great changes in the European energy framework following the war in Ukraine.
The centrality of the investments envisaged by the NextGeEu for energy transition (37% of investment expenditure) as well as for innovation and digitalization (20%) are established by the PNRR and are now linked to the industrial policy launched by the EU.
In the meantime, for our country this means starting from a shift of our gas and energy supplies from Russia to the Mediterranean countries and to Africa which cannot fail to have important effects on trade and commercial policies. This is the reason why priority should be given to “preferential agreements” with the Mediterranean countries.
We can start from here and then move on to developing the implications of an energy plan (to be finalized as soon as possible) and of that for digitalisation, looking at the commitment to infrastructure and innovation, and the shift commercial hub towards the Mediterranean.
The investment in the port system and its increased competitiveness through technology and liberalisations, the importance of the seaways and marine traffic, are important aspects linked to the new role of the African shore.
The connections with the large solar energy grids under construction in Sahara they require not only infrastructural investments but also skills that are not currently among the priorities of the PNRR. The same goes for the LNG supply and service network on our territory. As well as the commitment to carry out electricity distribution networks who benefit from the new information technologies that increase their efficiency.
Innovation shouldn't be overlooked either: watch out for services
The increase in productivity we need requires an investment in innovation that is not achieved only with automation, artificial intelligence and digitization.
Innovations are achieved, to name a few, with choices regarding energy efficiency, encouraging their adoption (and this was not done with 110% despite the size of the expenditure), as other countries have conveniently done, creating new sectors of activity. But also by focusing on electric heating in homes, as Sweden has been doing for years.
The European choices regarding “microchip" and of "Electric cars” should be seen as an opportunity to get on the train of innovation, albeit with the precautions necessary to avoid a crowding-out effect of our production system.
It should not be forgotten that the positive results of our export of goods are contrasted by a substantial inadequacy of the growth of that of services, in particular, in the transport and telecommunications sector.
The commitment requested of us by the Commission in favor of competition concerns not only the sector of local public services but, in general, the management of the port system, that of broadband networks and, more generally, the system of government concessions .
New essential skills for the leap in quality that Brussels is asking of us
They serve new skills. It has been calculated that there are at least 500.000 people who need to be trained in new technologies both in the field of energy efficiency and processes related to digitalisation, automation and, in general, the use of artificial intelligence. A training plan is needed aimed at these needs and a school-training relationship that takes them into account.
All of this - and much more - can be taken into account by designing a path to be implemented with the cohesion funds (avoiding the unnecessary North-South oppositions that are already appearing on the horizon), those of the Repower eu and of the complementary fund, provided that they can enjoy the necessary flexibility, once the ongoing negotiations with Brussels have been successful.
Their association with what is already foreseen by the PNRR represents an essential junction to allow "the red thread" to become explicit in favor of the leap in productivity and development that we have an extraordinary need and which must be achieved in the framework of European industrial policy and the new Pact of stability and development.
A European debt for shared infrastructure
Finally, beyond the European resources that we have at our disposal, a European choice in favor of a common debt would certainly be decisive, perhaps favored by an agreement for its use in favor of infrastructures decided on in common. It is a perspective that must be followed with determination, even if it is not at the moment, judging by the known facts, among the foreseeable short-term events.
There is therefore a lot of material but also many opportunities that can arise from an overall commitment in the use of the European funds that we have available.
It is a design that must not be forgotten, let it be clear, that the investment in social equity, starting from school and healthcare are essential conditions for development. It is not a question of making budget overruns, but as argued in the volume of the Group of 20 on Equity and Development (2022), of reducing bonuses, waste of expenditure and tax evasion that undermine the budget balance and of achieving equity as a necessary condition of social cohesion.
