NRRP: cross priorities

The NextGenerationEU programme not only provides Italy with the opportunity to complete a full ecological and digital transition, but will also allow the country to catch up where it has historically lagged behind, focusing on people with disabilities, young people, women and the Mezzogiorno.

In order to be effective, structural and in line with the objectives of the European Pillar of Social Rights, Italy’s recovery must ensure equal rights for all citizens, especially those who are currently unable to express their full potential. Prolonged gender inequality and a lack of equal opportunities, whether in terms of religion, disability, age or sexual orientation, are not only a problem for the individual, but also significantly impede economic growth. 

This is why the NRRP’s reforms and investments share cross priorities regarding equal opportunities between generations, genders and geographical areas. Projects are assessed based on how they will boost the potential of young people, women and local areas, as well as on the opportunities they provide for everyone, without discrimination.

To pursue the goals of equal opportunities between generations, genders and geographical areas, the NRRP includes measures that make hiring young people and women a condition for being able to carry out the various projects. In particular, specific clauses will be included in calls for funding applications, indicating criteria aimed at meeting these objectives as additional requirements that will be used to assess the services on offer.

Young people

As part of each mission, the NRRP aims to boost young people’s potential, building institutional and business environments able to promote their development and allow them to play a leading role in society.

The following measures are of particular interest for young people:

• Digitalisation measures, including those to complete connectivity in schools (Mission 1)
• Ecological transition investments and reforms that contribute to creating youth employment in all sectors covered by the EU Green Deal, including renewable energy, transmission and distribution networks and the hydrogen chain (Mission 2)
• With particular regard to childcare, the nursery school plan that aims to increase the number of children benefiting from early education services as well as the strengthening of full-time schooling and school sports facilities (Mission 4) 
• Measures to improve students’ basic skills, reduce school dropout rates, bridge the gap between education and employment and reform the tertiary vocational training system (Mission 4)
• Measures to strengthen university education, with new study grants and new opportunities for young researchers, increasing the number of PhDs (Mission 4) 
• Measures to ensure effective integration between active labour market policies and social policies, by strongly investing in education and training (dual apprenticeships) and strengthening the ‘Universal Civil Service’, as well as measures regarding social infrastructure, social housing and Italy’s inner areas (Mission 5)

Women

Mobilising women, with a view to achieving equal opportunities, is fundamental for Italy’s recovery and requires action to counter the many dimensions of discrimination towards them.

Given these inequalities, the Government intends to launch a national gender equality strategy for 2021-2026, by the end of June 2021. This strategy has five priorities (employment, income, skills, time and power) and its goal is to increase Italy’s score in the European Institute for Gender Equality’s Gender Equality Index by five points by 2026.

Through its Missions, the NRRP develops the priorities of the national gender equality strategy, including them in a broad programme aimed at boosting women’s participation in the labour market and correcting the asymmetries that hinder equal opportunities from as early as school age.

In particular:

• New recruitment and career advancement mechanisms are being adopted in the Public Administration, as well as incentives to achieve a better work-life balance  (Mission 1)
• Investments in broadband and fast internet connections will make it easier to create the technological infrastructure necessary to provide businesses in general, and female-led businesses in particular, with tools to expand their market (Mission 1)
• Increasing nursery school places, enhancing early childhood education services and increasing full-time schooling will help support mothers with small children, thereby supporting women’s employment (Mission 4)
• Investing in STEM skills among female high school students will improve their career prospects, allowing Italy to align with European averages (Mission 4)
• A specific investment to back female entrepreneurship, redesigning and improving the current support system as part of an integrated strategy (Mission 5)
• Introducing a national gender equality certification system will help companies narrow the gaps in all the most critical areas for women’s professional growth as well as increasing transparency in terms of pay (Mission 5) 
• Social housing projects may reduce situations of extreme marginality in which women are more likely to be exposed to violence; enhancing social infrastructure will also help ease the unpaid care burden that often falls on women (Mission 5)
• Strengthening local services and home care support will contribute to reducing the burden of care in families, often borne by women (Mission 6)

The Mezzogiorno

Out of the EUR 206 billion that can be distributed based on territorial criteria, the Plan allocates EUR 82 billion to Italy’s Mezzogiorno, equal to 40% of the total. 

The NRRP contributes to bridging the gap between the Mezzogiorno and the rest of Italy. By 2026, the NRRP’s overall impact on national GDP is expected to be around 16 percentage points, while for the south of the country, that figure is expected to be approximately 24 percentage points.

One of the NRRP’s key tasks is to support a new phase of levelling up between the south and the centre-north, addressing a historical obstacle to the country’s development. Although a convergence process had begun after the Second World War, this only lasted until the mid-1970s. In terms of per capita GDP, this divide has remained substantially the same for over forty years now, and if anything has increased.

The current crisis has dealt a further blow to the south of the country, affecting key sectors for the area, such as tourism and the services industry, and severely impacting women’s and young people’s employment. The structural weakness of the Mezzogiorno’s production system therefore needs to be overcome, in line with the specific recommendations issued by the European Commission.

A third of Italians live in the south of the country, but this area produces only a quarter of national GDP. The Mezzogiorno is currently the eurozone’s largest and most populated underdeveloped area. Revitalising this area is important not just for Italy, but also for the whole of Europe.

In particular, the NRRP includes the following measures to benefit the Mezzogiorno: 

• Reforms to improve the Public Administration and speed up investments that have a significant impact on the south of the country and help existing funds to be spent in a more efficient way
• A special programme to use assets confiscated from mafia groups in order to strengthen public housing
• A national action plan to combat undeclared work
• Measures to improve connectivity in the country’s rural and inner areas and to boost the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (Mission 1)
• Measures for waste management infrastructure and water infrastructure to reduce the amount of water that is lost, which is particularly high in the south  (Mission 2) 
• Measures to simplify initiatives regarding energy efficiency and building redevelopment (Mission 2)
• Investments in high-speed rail, strengthening infrastructure in the Mezzogiorno and helping to boost employment throughout the supply chain (Mission 3)
• Definition of essential service levels for some of the main services to support people, starting with nursery schools, and a social infrastructure plan (Mission 4)
• Measures to combat educational poverty and reduce differences in the quality of high school education between different geographical areas; these measures will help improve the level of basic skills and reduce the school dropout rate in a structural way (Mission 4)
• Strengthening essential services and bridging gaps in connectivity and digitalisation in marginal areas; these measures will increase the attractiveness of areas facing the greatest risk of depopulation (Mission 5) 
• Reforming and improving the infrastructure of Special Economic Zones, attracting investments and boosting the global competitiveness of ports in the Mezzogiorno (Mission 5)

People with disabilities

The NRRP pays special attention to people with disabilities, also as part of its measures to reduce geographical divides in terms of the quality of high school education. Measures to improve mobility, local public transport and railway lines support the improvement and accessibility of infrastructure and services for all citizens.

A special investment in social infrastructure is also planned, together with others in local social and healthcare services and home help, in order to improve the level of autonomy of people with disabilities.

Improving local healthcare services promotes truly universal access to the national health service.

Lastly, there are plans to introduce a ‘Disability framework law’ to simplify access to services and the way in which disability is assessed.

As part of the NRRP’s implementation, the national monitoring centre for the condition of people with disabilities will check that proposed reforms are adequately inclusive.