Something went wrong. What translated means rewriting the Pnrr, lengthening deadlines, wasting time, granting exceptions, canceling or moving resources from one project to another. As the goals get closer and the objectives to be reached at the end of the quarter move away, the dark spots of a plan that was born badly, revised and corrected by the Draghi government, but which is about to be redone, come to light. The first to admit this in recent days was Francesco Giavazzi, professor of Bocconi, the leading economic adviser to the previous government: “I see difficulties in paying the third installment of the Pnrr if the findings raised by the European Commission are not resolved first”. It’s much more than an alarm. The concrete risk of losing a loan installment of 19 billion euros. Financial means. The repercussions of the accusations have already begun. Rags fly. The Draghi-Meloni confrontation, the finger pointing at local authorities, the weakest link in the chain. In essence, the structural problems, those that were not resolved, that the technicians failed to see and the Court of Auditors highlighted in its last report to Parliament: Disqualified public administration, poorly designed tenders, projects that the municipalities, that is, for 57% , the main implementers of the Plan have been re-purposed for years, adding many splashes of color. In short, many doubts and few certainties. In a context where transparency is optional. Projects to be grounded, refurbished and moved over a longer period – 42 billion in total to be spent by 2023 – the Pnrr system to be rethought and re-proposed in Brussels, resolving critical issues in crucial sectors that slow down the bureaucracy engulfed by the machine: port concessions , district heating and integrated urban systems.
On December 30, 2022, monitoring by the independent Openpolis Foundation found that 14 interventions considered completed still faced administrative and bureaucratic problems; for 4 deadlines the interventions were not implemented: cybersecurity; reinforcement of job centers; support projects for the disabled and new beds for students. Where not only was not a single cradle bought, but not even a notice was opened. In May 2021, 15,000 employees were expected to be hired through public tenders. Overpowered graduates who would never accept fixed-term contracts. They only hired 2,500 – a failure. Now, with the latest CDM decree, reinforcements will arrive: 1056, employees, technicians, experts. But only now. Let’s recap. The Pnrr foresees 358 measures financed by 191.5 billion euros from Next Generation EU – 750 billion that do not come from governments but from the market, guaranteed through the issuance of bonds -, in addition to the 30.6 billion from the complementary fund , resources coffers of the state. On paper, it could reach 261 billion. Every 6 months, the European Commission checks that the deadlines have been met and, if approved, sends the funds. A program of colossal reach, therefore. Hence the obligation of transparency as a precondition for verifying the state of implementation and monitoring of interventions. However, it turns out – let’s mention Openpolis again – the data available on the ItaliaDomani platform dates back to December 31, 2021 and concerns only 5,246 projects.
In last October’s semi-annual report, the Draghi government referred to 73 thousand projects worth 65 billion euros. Projects where opacity still exists today. Verbs are conjugated indefinitely: relocate, remodulate, rethink but few know what it is. There was never a follow-up report to the new government. “There was no due diligence, the monitoring system is unthinkable,” recently argued Fabrizio Barca, the former minister for territorial cohesion who holds the record for using European structural funds. A criticism from the left that Barça, with its Forum on inequalities, never skimped on the Draghi government. Synthesized in 2 letters sent by the Forum to Brussels between spring and summer 2021. Gaps and weaknesses of the Italian Plan, knots that would later come to light. Spraying of investments, lack of dialogue and transparency, need for hiring in the AP administration to supply the deficit of personnel of the municipalities. Without these corrections, the Pnrr, is Barça’s prophecy, “it will be an apple with the worm”. And he said this as the Commission paid tribute to Mario Draghi by rolling out red carpets. These are limits that the Minister of European Affairs, Raffaele Fitto, never hid. The imperative, however, is to unite, to avoid passing the blame. A rule that the mayor of Bari, Antonio Decaro, president of Anci, also complied with. Small municipalities should be helped, not criticized (municipal secretaries are on average 55 years old, many of them about to retire). Three days ago, the new PA minister, Paolo Zangrillo, announced the allocation of 20.5 million euros for new hires in municipalities with the possibility of stabilizing precarious workers and continuing the work already started. Did Zangrillo need to be there?
Source: IL Tempo

Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.