Italy’s difficulties in using EU funds do not concern the Recovery Fund alone. In addition to delays in the post-pandemic recovery program, which has led to the postponement of the third installment of funds requested by Rome, Italy is in the penultimate place in Europe in the use of structural funds, with the resources provided by Brussels to strengthen economic, social and regional cohesion and thereby the most advanced and backward. the aim of reducing the gap between the remaining regions. Until the end of last year, Italy had spent only 62% of the funds allocated to it from 2014 to 2020. Italy, which spent just over 50% of its resources last October, has made a jump in recent months but is still below the European average of around 76%.
Difficulties in using these resources often arise from the design and co-financing requirements of some programmes. But there are countries that have actually managed to use structural funds. This is the case of Lithuania spending 97% of the funds allocated to the country, Portugal spending 96% of the funds allocated to the country, or Finland and Lithuania with an expenditure ratio of 90%. Even the UK managed to spend 81% of the structural funds allocated to it for the period before leaving the EU until last year despite Brexit.
Source: European Structural and Investment Funds: Cohesion Policy Funds Finance: Implemented
Worse than Italy, Spain managed to spend only 57% of the structural funds for the previous budget period. from the percentages reported on the portal open date Depending on the harmonization policies of the European Commission, spending problems also arise in Slovakia and Denmark, which recorded their fund utilization rates as 63% and 65%, respectively. Other major EU economies have done much better, starting with France accounting for 88% of the 32.6 billion offered and Germany accounting for 83% of the 33 billion. The country that spent its funds best was Lithuania, which used 97% of the 10 billion offered to it, followed by Portugal, which spent 96% of the 29 billion, followed by Malta (94% of 985 million) and Slovenia (92). % of 4 billion).
Italy is also the second country in terms of resources made available by Brussels. Poland comes first with 92.5 billion, followed by us with 64.8, Spain with 57, Germany with 33, France with 32.5 and Portugal with 28.9. Among the big countries that are better off than us are France, which spends 88% of the 32.6 billion allocated to it, and Germany, which spends 83%.
In order not to lose resources, Italy will need to use the unspent funds by 31 December 2023. A partnership agreement was signed between European sources and Italy last summer for structural funds for the period 2021-2027, which was allocated over 75 billion euros. national co-financing
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
