To help repair the economic and social damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU leaders have agreed on a recovery plan that will lead the way out of the crisis and lay the foundations for Europe.
Established as the pandemic Recovery Fund, the NEXT GENERATION EU (NGEU) plan covers the next seven years and consists of subsidies of € 390 billion and low interest loans of € 360 billion, with a total of € 750 billion euros of budget.
NGEU is based on three main pillars: (1) reconstruction support for member countries, (2) private investment subsidies for rapid economic recovery, and (3) lessons learned from the corona crisis (research and development support).
Italy has begun discussions with the European Commission on a recovery plan on 15 October, and it announced what will be the key points for the future of this project.
First, the actual allocation to each member country has not been officially decided, but, in the case of Italy, it is estimated to be about 209 billion euros. Of these, 81 billion are in a form of subsidies and 12.8 billion are low-interest loans. This means that while 27 countries are members of the EU, about 28% of the reconstruction fund will be allocated to Italy.
The plan can be submitted by April 2021, and the plans submitted by each Member State will be reviewed by the European Commission and the Council. If the plan is approved, 10% will be paid immediately and every 6 months thereafter.
The Italian government has identified recovery plans in six macro areas:
・ Digitization ・Green Revolution ・ Education and training・ Equality ・ Mobility infrastructure ・ Health
In particular, green policy and digitization will be the central points, and it is estimated that 40% (green policy) and 20% (digitization) of the total amount will be allocated to these macro fields.
The Italian Ministry of Economy estimated that the subsidies will be used in the first phase of the Reconstruction Fund between 2021 and 2023 (70% of the total), and the rest during the period from 2024 to 2026. We expect 30% to be used.
As it can be seen from the use of the budget explained above, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte himself declared that Italy’s recovery plan is aimed at promoting the green and digital revolution.
According to materials published by the government, the important points of each macro category are as follows.
– Mainly digitization of administration, public medical care, and tax offices.
– Investment in optical fiber and 5G will throughout Italy.
– Investment in R & D
– Strengthening financial tools to support and improve the competitiveness of companies in the international market.
-Promotion of Cultural industry and tourism
– Investment for decarbonization of the energy industry
– Promotion of circular economy
– Improving the energy efficiency of buildings (public, private, factories, medical facilities, etc.)
– High-speed rail (AV-AC) network for freight and passenger trains and completing the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
– Improvement of roads and highways (especially bridges and viaducts)
– Strengthening e-learning infrastructures
– Achieve better educational results
– Improving the situation gender inequality in the working environment (especially after a pandemic, the worsening of it must be avoided)
– Promotion of lifelong learning
– Digitization of medical services
