BRUSSELS. Electric charging points, ahead with the sustainable conversion of Poste Italiane. The European Commission approves the all-Italian strategy to install 5,000 stations in 2,100 municipalities with less than 15,000 inhabitants, and thus make the delivery of correspondence more environmentally friendly and urban livability. Green light therefore to state aid of 21.1 million euros in the form of direct subsidies. The construction of the electricity columns is part of the broader Polis project, which aims to allow Poste to provide a series of services to the population of small municipalities and remote areas in Italy. In this case it will also be electric mobility and, for those who own one, recharge their electric bicycle thanks to the Post Office, the Italian government, and the European Union.
It will now be up to Italy to draw up the list of beneficiaries. In Brussels they clarify that the EU Commission is not responsible for carrying out the project. The Community Antitrust had to limit itself to the verifications of the case. Having established that no rules are violated, the market is not distorted, nor competition is disturbed, now everything passes into the hands of the competent authorities. The game is played on the table of the Ministry of Economic Development, but also on that of local authorities. Piedmont alone has over 1,100 municipalities with less than 15,000 inhabitants, and if you want to intercept some of the resources, now that the green light has arrived in Brussels, we must get to work. But much will also depend on Poste’s strategy and its network of around 12,800 post offices.
Meanwhile, Italy is showing off in Europe with a project that combines sustainability and responsibility. The € 21.1 million aid package is part of the National Plan for Complementary Investments, which will complement the National Recovery Plan. The ability to keep faith with the commitments agreed at European level is therefore demonstrated, and to be able to intervene where necessary. The von der Leyen Commission concluded that public support for the Poste strategy is “necessary and appropriate” to build charging infrastructure in areas where no private investment would be made in the absence of public support. The columns in the small towns could only be installed in this way. Let the work begin.