The Recovery Plan risks running aground in the funnel of a German Suez, frozen by an appeal by the right to the Karlsruhe Court. Democracy for Europe requires that nothing be done until all states and parliaments have given approval, and then the prospect of a delay for the billions needed to relaunch the continental economy still in the throes of the pandemic creates some concern the most of whom one could do without. Even fright, in hindsight. Even politicians trying to make the best of a bad situation. Like Enzo Amendola, Undersecretary for European Affairs, who (in La Stampa) sends an invitation to stick to the facts, because the government and the German chambers have shown themselves in favor of the Great Rescue. It is a heartening sign. Which does not mean, he points out, that it is necessary to speed up the procedures for obtaining funds. In Italy, as in the rest of the Union, because – as is evident – we are all on one boat.
Launched (politically) by EU leaders last summer, it reached the crucial turning point. Baptized Next generation EU – known by us as Recovery Fund – is a special fund aimed at financing the economic recovery of the old continent in the three-year period 2021-2023 with European government bonds (Recovery bonds). They will be used to support structural reform projects envisaged by the national reform plans of each country: the Recovery Plans. The overall budget is 750 billion euros, to be divided between the various states. Italy is the first beneficiary with 209 billion euros.
To obtain the funds – partly loans (127 billion) and partly non-repayable grants (82) – Member States must submit their Recovery Plans to the European Commission by April 2021. In Italy, the Recovery Plan has been called the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PNRR). It has six missions: Digitization, innovation and competitiveness of the production system and the Public Administration, education, Health and Taxation; Green revolution and ecological transition; Infrastructures, for mobility and telecommunications, with the creation of a national fiber optic network, the development of 5G and High Speed networks; Education, training, research and culture; Social, gender and territorial equity, with particular attention to active labor policies and the plan for the South; Health.
Among the main objectives of the government, there is the reduction of the social and economic impact of the pandemic crisis; the doubling of the average growth rate of the Italian economy, from 0.8% in the last decade to 1.6%, in line with the EU average; the increase in public investments to at least 3% of GDP; the increase in research and development (R&D) spending from the current 1.3% to 2.1%, above the EU average; an action that brings the employment rate to 73.2%, in line with the EU average, against the current 63%.
Where are we at? We’ll make it? How? What are the risks?
On Tuesday afternoon at 4 pm on www.lastampa.it some of the main voices of the Italian economy will discuss the future of the Recovery Plan and the state of the PNRR, in a digital debate organized in collaboration with the Compagnia di Sanpaolo.
Francesco Profumo, president of the Compagnia di San Paolo, and Marco Buti, head of the cabinet of the EU commissioner Paolo Gentiloni will open the meeting. It will close an interview with Enrico Giovannini, Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Development.
The actual debate will be animated by Elsa Fornero, economist, former minister of labor; Irene Tinagli, president of the Economic Affairs Commission, European Parliament; Marco Gay, president of Confindustria Piemonte; Maurizio Landini, secretary of the CGIL; Marcella Panucci, head of the cabinet of the Minister of Public Administration; Sabino Cassese, judge emeritus of the Constitutional Court; Dario Scannapieco, vice president of the BEI. Moderated by Marco Zatterin. Deputy director of La Stampa.