NRRP: European Commission gives positive assessment for payment of sixth instalment worth EUR 8.7 billion

President Meloni: great satisfaction with the work carried out, Italy confirms its leading position in Europe.

The European Commission has today formally adopted a positive assessment regarding Italy’s achievement of the 39 milestones and targets required for payment of the sixth instalment of its NRRP (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), worth EUR 8.7 billion.

The instalment is set to be paid by the end of 2024 upon completion of the standard procedure, confirming that Italy, as well as being the first European Union Member State to receive a positive assessment for its sixth instalment, is also the nation that has received the most funding, which will amount to EUR 122 billion, corresponding to 63% of the total resources of its NRRP, equal to EUR 194.4 billion.

“The payment approval for the sixth NRRP instalment – stated President of the Council of Ministers Giorgia Meloni – certifies Italy’s leading position in Europe, confirming the Government’s positive work in constructive collaboration with the European Commission, the administrations responsible for the various measures and regional and local authorities. This result, together with the payment request for the seventh instalment that is due to be submitted in the coming weeks, shows that the Plan is being implemented on schedule and in accordance with all the goals agreed at European level, which are the only objective parameters to assess the NRRP’s progress”.

The 39 objectives (23 milestones and 16 targets) linked to the payment approval for the sixth instalment include strategic investments and important reforms, such as: measures aimed at reducing payment delays by the public administration; the entry into force of the framework law for people with disabilities; legislative measures to support elderly people who are not self-sufficient; 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.

With respect to the measures implemented for the sixth instalment, the target relating to administrative justice is particularly important, with more backlogs being cleared for both the Council of State (‘Consiglio di Stato’) and Regional Administrative Courts (‘Tribunali Amministrativi Regionali’) than the targets set by the Plan. More specifically, the backlog for the Council of State has been almost completely cleared: 99% of the 24,010 appeals that were pending as of 31 December 2019, compared with the target of 35%. Backlog clearance for the Regional Administrative Courts of Milan, Venice, Rome, Naples, Salerno, Palermo and Catania reached over 95% of the 109,029 cases that were pending as of 31 December 2019, compared with the target of 25% set by the Plan.

At the same time, together with the measures adopted to strengthen court support offices and make the administrative justice system more efficient, important goals have been met to boost staffing in criminal, civil and administrative courts. These goals are strategic in continuing the process to modernise and improve the efficiency of Italy’s institutions.

The goals achieved for the sixth instalment also include investments aimed at: creating new gas transportation infrastructure (the Adriatic Line); strengthening rail links in Italy’s central and southern regions; providing the tax credits for ecological transition 4.0 and activating the measure for ecological transition 5.0; renewing the National Fire Brigade’s fleet; digitalising national parks; beginning work on new sports facilities in schools; protecting and enhancing urban and peri-urban forests; implementing power generation plants for the ecological transition in the agriculture and agro-industrial sectors (agri-solar); cleaning up illegal landfills with the annulment of infringement proceedings; creating a digital tourism hub; and, developing the technical, digital and managerial skills of national health system professionals.

As part of the Government’s work to uphold legality and transparency in the Plan’s implementation, the target linked to digitalising the Guardia di Finanza [Italian Finance Police] is of particular importance, the aim of which is to reorganise and modernise databases.

President Meloni went on to comment: “These are important reforms and investments that are priorities for reducing regional divides and for Italy’s ecological and digital transition, energy autonomy and economic and social growth. The Government has been working hard on these strategic objectives ever since coming to office and will continue to do so, with the same spirit and determination, in the interest of citizens, the productive fabric and the nation as a whole. 
I wish to thank Minister Raffaele Fitto – concluded President Meloni – for the great work that has been done in implementing the NRRP over these years, enabling Italy to rank first in Europe in terms of the number of goals achieved, the total resources received, and the payment requests formalised”.

[Courtesy translation]