Ecofin, the EU Council of Economic Ministers, approved the revision of the Italian Pnrr. It is the definitive green light, after that of the Commission, for the recovery and resilience plan following the changes introduced by the Meloni government. The Prime Minister himself speaks of «another great result from the Government that confirms the seriousness and effectiveness of the work carried out in recent months.
We intend to continue on this path, in the awareness that the success of our Pnrr is in the interests of the nation and its citizens.” Thanks to this review, our country’s Pnrr goes from the previous 191.5 billion euros to 194.4, divided as follows: loans to 122.6 billion and grants to 71.8. How was it possible to increase the amounts of funds allocated to Italy? Simple: thanks to the increase in objectives, which went from 527 to 614. There are currently four installments approved by Brussels. From what the government hopes and expects, the green light for the farm should arrive by the end of the month. Regarding the approval of Eurofin, there is also a comment from the Minister of European Affairs Raffaele Fitto, who interrupts the delegate to the Pnrr: «We are very pleased with the approval today by the Council of the review of the Italian Pnrr.
Intense work started in August and carried out with great incisiveness by the Italian government in close collaboration with the European Commission reaches a positive conclusion” continues the minister, remembering that this “Council decision recognizes and establishes the quality of what has been done. Today’s step is certainly a decisive and very important step, but it is not a point of arrival.” If the Plan’s indexes and objectives continue within the expected deadlines, the other side of the coin must also be considered, that is, the progress of the tenders and the works themselves. As they say in jargon, the so-called “grounding”. On this front, in fact, there is still a lot to be done, and it often concerns the capacity of local administrations to launch projects. A very comprehensive picture is provided by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBU), which on December 5 photographed the state of the art updated at the end of November. It is necessary to emphasize that the projects launched by the “actors” are 231,140: 95,502 in the North, 36,528 in the Center, 81,609 in the South, 17,501 at national level (that is, those that concern the entire country and not just a geographic area). . The share of resources allocated to the South “is significant and is in line with that of the North”. Even so, we read, “the differences between Regions and between macro areas are amplified when considering the proportion of completed projects and the capacity to tender and provide works for their implementation”. The percentage of completed projects is still, in general, low, but “in the Center and South it is just over half that of the North”. Furthermore, “delays in tenders and the award of works are mainly concentrated in the South”. The reason? «The greatest difficulties in preparing and carrying out competitions, especially for small contracting entities».
Here are some numbers: in the Central and Northern Regions, record tenders of 30.1 and 27.7% were launched, respectively, while in projects located in the Southern Region, tenders were launched to date in an amount equal to 19.3%.
Furthermore, “regional distribution presents a non-homogeneous picture within the three national regions. In the North, the percentage of the number of procedures initiated varies between 87% in Val d’Aosta and 18.3% in Veneto, while in the South, Basilicata (80%) and Abruzzo (67%) register shares above the national average and Molise and Sicily: The macro areas (around 10%) record the lowest percentages ever. In the Center, Marche and Lazio stand out negatively compared to Tuscany and Umbria, although with relatively high percentages (around 26%)”. And be careful, as some initially feared, there is no problem with deserted races. Companies Those who choose to participate in the development of Italy are there and do not hesitate.In fact, of the 104 thousand Pnrr competitions, only 0.54% (561) were deserted or cancelled.
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.
