The EU will be open to changes on the Pnrr in the face of “objective circumstances” such as inflation or the difficulty in finding raw materials. But on “reforms we cannot be flexible because they depend on a political will: if reforms on justice, competition or illegal work have to be made, this depends on a political will and not on objective circumstances”. These are the words of the EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni who also recalled how with the Next Generation EU “so far we have disbursed 137 billion, of which 64 billion to Italy”.
The changes must be “limited” and on investments
«On the Pnrr there are no delays, all the meetings» showed Italy’s roadmap «and also the Meloni government has confirmed its intention to respect the roadmap. I know very well that it will not be easy to enforce the commitments but the Government will enforce the deadlines”, clarified Gentiloni speaking on “in Half an hour more” hosted by Lucia Annunziata on Rai 3. “Between January and March we will receive amendments from many countries and we are open. However, the amendments must respect two conditions: they must concern limited objectives, they must be justified we cannot say that since there is inflation we must do it all over again and secondly they must concern investments where certainly the lack of raw materials and inflation can have weighed, but the changes cannot concern the reforms”.
EU inflexible on reforms that depend on political will
Indeed, the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs clarifies that “failure to comply” with the reforms cannot be accepted: “We cannot be flexible because they depend on a political will: if reforms on justice, competition or illegal work have to be made, this depends on a will political and not by objective circumstances”. Also because according to Gentiloni “extra time is always dangerous and on the Pnrr there are the conditions to reach the objectives in time”. Among other things, the commissioner recalls “next year we will add” to the Pnrr “a chapter for energy for all countries, and for Italy there will be around 2.5 billion transfers”.
«The Pnrr is not a problem, but an amazing opportunity»
«There are no delays on the Pnrr so far, the Draghi government has respected the objectives and the Meloni government has confirmed its intention to respect the roadmap for the end of this year. It is complicated, because it is not easy in Italy to implement these investments but the government’s commitment is to respect the times”, continued the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, during his connection to “Mezz’ora in più” on Rai 3. «Let’s try not to see the Pnrr as a problem – added the EU commissioner – but let’s try to see it as an amazing opportunity for the country. Anyone who doesn’t come from Norway knows that it takes a tremendous effort to seize this opportunity, but it’s an opportunity for Italy to give itself a jolt after years of very, very low growth», adds Gentiloni.
The Qatar and EU Parliament affair “is shameful”
«It is a very serious thing, if what emerges from the first decisions of the Brussels prosecutors were confirmed, it would be representatives of Parliament and activists who would have received money to turn a blind eye to working conditions in Qatar. A shameful and intolerable affair. If it is confirmed that someone took money to try to influence the opinion of the European Parliament, I think it will truly be one of the most dramatic corruption stories of these years», added Gentiloni. Which speaks of «very serious reputational damage. The European Parliament has always been the spearhead from the point of view of rights, it may not have had sufficient powers but on principles it has always been a point of reference”.