It is not the government that is late with the Pnrr, it is Italy that is late, but if we all row in the same direction and continue the conversation with Europe, we will be able to spend everything and spend it well. In summary, this is the thesis that the Minister of European Affairs Raffaele Fitto communicated to Parliament that he was called to report on the Pnrr “with particular reference to the review of the governance system”. And just yesterday morning the Prime Minister signed the Dpcm that implements the decree-law on the governance of the Pnrr. A solution to concentrate powers in Palazzo Chigi and speed up project execution time. “At the moment of inauguration, the government found 25 objectives achieved – Fitto recalled – afterwards there was a very intense work and the 55 objectives were achieved and sent to the European Commission, which started a moment of discussion with the latter”. There are still many projects, as Italy has already spent 13% of the resources made available so far, just under half of what we could have invested.
The third installment, still blocked, of 19.5 billion, which was due to be paid in December 2022, is still on the table. But Fitto guaranteed: “In the next few hours, we hope that these aspects will have a definition and, therefore, of the questions related to the problems related to the release of the third installment”. third tranche. Once it manages to bring home the 19 billion, the government will have to reach 20 marks and 7 targets by the end of June to access the fourth tranche of 16 billion. Not forgetting that Italy’s spending peak is expected between 2024 and 2025, when 45 billion will be used. Then, there are the June objectives that will not be reached in time, a Repower Me still to be written and, finally, the reformulation of the entire Plan given the not so much difficulty in spending the money, but in spending it on time. Therefore, the government is negotiating the possibility of transferring some expenses from 2026 to 2029. There are still 27 targets that Italy must meet by the end of June if it wants to request the fourth installment of the 16 billion euros Pnrr of the European Union. And among these, explains Fitto, “there are some that need to be redesigned”, but “the dialogue with the EU is to maintain the objectives” and the funding “ensuring their achievement”.
Thus, the line will not be to give up Pnrr’s money, but to negotiate with the European Union to modify the terms of the middle and end of the mandate in order to be able to bring home the greatest possible number of goals. Of the 27 still in play, Minister Fitto wanted to focus on three in particular: nurseries and kindergartens, experimentation with hydrogen in public transport and the Cinecittà project. The Pnrr allocated 4.6 billion euros to kindergartens. It is expected that 1,857 new kindergartens and 333 kindergartens will be built. The objective stated in the plan’s negotiation phase is to guarantee a total of 264,480 new vacancies by 2025. As far as the “Cinecittà project” is concerned, the objective is to restructure the times, since the deadline, set at June 30, does not seem can be achieved. While experimenting with hydrogen in public transport, only 36 requests were received from 40 planned projects. In May, the government will present a half-yearly report that will be a comprehensive and documented assessment of the Pnrr: “A basis for building a dynamic discussion of critical issues”.
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.
