Italy's regional governments and
municipalities on Wednesday demanded the government provide
guarantees that the funding they were due to get under the
National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) will still arrive
after the massive programme was rejigged.
The government has shifted around 16 billion euros worth of EU
grants and low-interest loans from some projects that risked not
being completed by the deadline of 2026 and diverted them to
others, to avoid the danger of Italy losing out on the money
completely.
European Affairs Minister Raffaelle Fitto has said the projects
that have had PNNR cash taken away will be funded via other
mechanisms, such as European cohesion funds.
But there is uncertainty about how this will happen.
"Without funding, project worksites risk being halted," Italy's
governors said in a document after a meeting of the conference
of regions on Wednesday.
They said projects like those for urban regeneration risked
being put on ice.
Bari Mayor Antonio Decaro, the head of the Italian association
of local authorities (ANCI), sounded the alarm too.
"We ask the government for certainty that we will have
substitute funding following the reshaping of the NRRP funds,"
Decaro said.
"Otherwise we risk having to halt the procedures for public
works and new services, regeneration and redevelopment projects,
interventions to protect the territory (from landslides and
flooding) and combat climate change".
The NRRP seeks to make the Italian economy greener and more
modern via projects funded with the help of around 191 billion
euros in EU grants and low-interest loans.
The changes the government made to it enabled the European
Commission last week to approve the long-delayed third tranche
of the NRRP funding worth 18,5 billion euros.
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