NRRP: an investment in the future
Published on 7th Feb 2023
The European Union has responded to the pandemic crisis with the Next Generation EU (NGEU), a programme of unprecedented scope and ambition that envisages investments and reforms to accelerate the ecological and digital transition, improve the training of workers and achieve greater gender, territorial and generational equity.
Italy is the first beneficiary, in term of funds received, of the two main instruments of the NGEU
- the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF);
- the Recovery Assistance Package for Cohesion and European Territories (REACT-EU).
The RRF Facility requires Member States to present a package of investments and reforms: the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).
On 13 July 2021, the NRRP was definitively approved by the Council of Ministers through the "Council Implementing Decision on the approval of the assessment of Italy's Recovery and Resilience Plan", one month later - on 13 August 2021 - the European Commission devolved Euro 24.9 billion to Italy (almost Euro 9 billion in block grants and the remainder as loans), 13% of the total amount Italy is to receive from the EU from Recovery Fund funds.
On 23 December 2021, the government submitted to the Italian Parliament the first "report on the state of implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan pursuant to Article 2(2)(e) of Decree-Law No. 77 of 31 May 2021, converted, with amendments, by Law No. 108 of 29 July 2021".
The NRRP consists of six Missions and sixteen Components, which are structured around three strategic axes shared at European level:
- digitalisation and innovation;
- ecological transition;
- social inclusion.
These intersect with three cross-cutting priorities:
- gender equality;
- improvement of young people's skills, capabilities and employment prospects;
- territorial rebalancing and development of the Mezzogiorno.[1]
The NRRP missions are [2]:
- Digitalisation, innovation, competitiveness, culture and tourism: the aim is to develop the digital transition and modernisation of the PA (49.1 billion euro allocated);
- Green revolution and ecological transition: this mission aims to achieve ecological transition and make Italy a more sustainable and competitive country (earmarked 68.6 billion euro);
- Infrastructure for sustainable mobility: the aim is to consolidate and expand Italy's high-speed rail network and promote the digitalisation of air traffic (31.4 billion euro allocated);
- Education and research: the aim is to remedy the structural and qualitative shortcomings in Italy's education system (31.9 billion euro allocated);
- Inclusion and cohesion: to promote policies to protect situations of both social and economic fragility; (22.5 billion euro allocated);
- Health: the objectives for this mission are mainly two, namely the consolidation of medical prevention and assistance on the ground (earmarked 18.5 billion euro).
Osborne Clarke comment
The NRRP aims to achieve long-term sustainability by decarbonising the economy, improving energy efficiency, developing sustainable mobility and protecting biodiversity. To do all this, countless investments have been made, some in the form of block grants, others in the form of loans. A lot of funding has been allocated to urban waste management and the development of hydrogen, methane and the ecobonus; this shows Italy's increased focus on these areas.
Italy has reached the 55 goal-targets for the second half of 2022 and has accordingly sent the EU Commission the request for payment of the third instalment of 21,839,080,460 euro. The disbursement of the due amount will take place in the coming months, at the end of the evaluation process required by the European procedures.
Our team has extensive experience in advising companies on all aspects of the ecological transition as well as digitalisation and healthcare, which are key areas for achieving the objectives set by the NRRP.
Notes:
[1] The Mezzogiorno is a mainland subregion consisting of the southern Italian regions of Abruzzi, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria and an insular subregion composed of Sicily and Sardinia.
[2] The amounts indicated as earmarked investments for each mission refer comprehensively to the following funds: NRRP, Complementary Fund and ReactEU
