The Recovery Fund slightly limits the funds for Italy. From the initial proposal which assigned to our country “funds available for approx 196 billion at current prices, 69 in the form of transfers, 127 in the form of loans”, the drop is based on the latest figures announced by Economy Minister Daniele Franco in Parliament. In fact, the European regulation, which takes the 2019 GDP as a reference, brings "to an estimate of the amount of resources of around 191,5 billion, slightly lower than that indicated in January”. The minister, in his first parliamentary statement on the plan that the government must deliver to Brussels by April 30 to obtain the funds of the Next Generation Eu, also underlined that "the European resources will be available at the end of the summer” with pre-financing at 13%. Franco then indicated the Plan's objectives and priorities.
“We all know that our country has a chronic problem of territorial, age and gender disparities": the Recovery Plan represents "an extraordinary opportunity for inclusive growth” that aims to fill these gaps. The head of the Treasury recalled that per capita GDP in the South is equal to 55% of the average in the North and that the exclusion of young people and women from the labor market is one of the main problems to be solved.
If all goes well between now and the end of next month, Franco specified again, the first tranche of aid will arrive "at the end of summer". So not in June, as previously assumed. The minister then recalled that 20% of the interventions will go to the digital and 37% at ecological transition, which, "as indicated by the UN Agenda 2030, provides for a reduction of greenhouse gases by 55% compared to 1990 levels: an ambitious goal that will have enormous implications for our production system".
Franco defined the Recovery Fund as “a very important historic step in the process of European construction and a step forward nthe creation of a common budget. It was born in an emergency context, but is aimed at redesigning the structure of Europe in the medium and long term. The indication for the Pnrr is to prepare not only investments but also reforms”. It will also be necessary “a step change in the way resources are used”, given that so far our country has never been efficient in the use of European structural funds.
Not only that: “We will have to reflect in the coming weeks on the distribution of funds between existing projects”, which are currently worth around 65 billion, “and new projects”, the minister said again, recalling that the plan already contains important chapters such as those on high-speed trains, the nursery school plan, the research programme, urban regeneration, building renovation and industry 4.0. Finally, Franco recalled that "70% of the resources must be spent by 2022", that "the interventions must be completed by 2026" and that "the disbursement will take place on the basis of the achievement of objectives clearly and verifiably".
