NRRP: European Commission pays Italy sixth instalment

The European Commission has today paid Italy the sixth instalment of its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), worth EUR 8.7 billion. The payment follows the Commission’s positive assessment, formally adopted on 26 November, regarding Italy’s fulfilment of 39 objectives (23 milestones and 16 targets).

“Italy is confirmed as the EU Member State to have received the most funding, amounting to EUR 122 billion, which corresponds to 63% of its total NRRP resources. This positive result will enable Italy to invest in many strategic sectors, intensifying production in activities this Government has believed in ever since taking office. Payment of the sixth instalment is the result of intense work, carried out also in synergy with the European Commission, encouraging us to continue in this direction for the good of the nation and its citizens”, stated the President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni.

The goals achieved with the payment of the sixth instalment include strategic investments, such as: strengthening rail links in Italy’s central and southern regions; creating new infrastructure for gas transportation (the Adriatic Line) and for Italy’s energy autonomy; renewing the National Fire Brigade’s fleet; providing the tax credits for ecological transition 4.0 and activating the measure for ecological transition 5.0, with respect to which the related regulations are being amended in order to make it more accessible and beneficial for companies; boosting staffing in criminal, civil and administrative courts; beginning work on new sports facilities in schools; and, developing technical, digital and managerial skills in order to make national health system services more efficient. In addition to investments, there are also important reforms, including: legislative measures to support elderly people who are not self-sufficient and people with disabilities; actions to prevent and combat undeclared work, exploitation of workers and other forms of illegal labour; the definition of a national standard for professional tourist guides.

The Minister for European Affairs, the NRRP and Cohesion Policy, Tommaso Foti, expressed particular satisfaction with “the achievement of the administrative justice target, in relation to which the backlog of cases has been almost completely cleared, compared with target reductions of 35% for the Council of State (‘Consiglio di Stato’) and 25% for Regional Administrative Courts (‘Tribunali Amministrativi Regionali’)”.

“Following the positive work to achieve the sixth instalment, the Government is committed to formalising the payment request also for the seventh instalment, worth EUR 18.3 billion, by the end of the year, paying the utmost attention to the monitoring of the Plan and the measures included in the last three instalments, to the results of Prefectures’ coordination units and the consequent action plans, and to the updating of the ‘ReGiS’ IT platform to show the actual status of Italy’s ongoing investments, in order to identify any necessary corrective action to ensure the Plan’s full and prompt implementation by the set deadlines”, added Minister Foti.
 
[Courtesy translation]