European Economy Commissioner Paolo
Gentiloni on Thursday played down talk of there being tension
between Rome and Brussels over Italy's National Recovery and
Resilience Plan (NRRP or PNRR in Italian), the post-COVID
programme to make the Italian economy Greener and more modern
with the help of almost 200 billion euros in EU grants and
low-interest loans.
The Commission has delayed by a month a decision on the payment
of a third tranche of funding of 19 billion euros while it runs
further checks on Italy's progress.
"We are in the phase of evaluating the targets linked to the
third payment request," Gentiloni told the Rome Investment Forum
organized by the FeBaf finance federation.
"In agreement with the government, the Commission has extended
the time for evaluation, as happened with other countries.
"It is a sign of the attention with which our services verify
the full achievement of the 55 targets.
"In some cases they are particularly complex".
He added that he would not "emphasize" the significance of the
postponement, saying the same thing had happened with seven or
eight other countries.
European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto admitted on Tuesday
that it would be impossible to realize some of the NRRP projects
by the deadline of June 2026.
The opposition, centre-left Democratic Party (PD) is calling for
the government to give clarification in parliament about delays
in the NRRP.
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