European Affairs Minister Raffaele
Fitto was set to meet with eight regional governors on Monday in
order to "optimize possible synergies" between the 2014-2020 and
2021-2027 European Union (EU) cohesion policy programming cycles
and the EU-funded post-Covid National Recovery and Resilience
Plan (NRRP), the ministry said in a statement.
The aim of the collaboration is to "correct the errors of the
past and focus on the strategic interventions that might enable
Italy to align itself to the level it deserves and that Europe
requires of us," according to the statement.
On Sunday Premier Giorgia Meloni said in an interview that Italy
is on schedule to enact the NRRP to make the Italian economy
greener and more modern, which has reportedly got bogged down in
delays.
"We are on schedule", said Meloni.
"Our plan is the largest in Europe, and a review of it requires
careful verification to avoid the risk of doing things hastily
and badly,"" she added.
"The deadline for proposing changes is 31 August 2023 and
(European Affairs Minister Raffaele) Fitto is working with the
European Commission and the individual administrations to ensure
the full implementation of the interventions," Meloni said.
Italy has been assigned the largest single chunk of the recovery
fund, almost 200 billion euros, in grants and low-interest
loans, whose issuance is conditional on enacting a set of key
structural reforms and other schemes like boosting the health
system and building new schools and nurseries by the deadline in
2026.
To date, Italy has received 66.9 billion euros in two
installments and the "assessment work" of the European
Commission on Italy's third payment request for 19 billion euros
"is still ongoing", a spokesperson for the EU executive said on
Sunday.
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