Italy to adopt decree for its EU-funded recovery plan
The government will also earmark €6.2bn in tax breaks for firms cutting energy consumption
26 February 2024 - 13:51
byGiuseppe Fonte
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Rome — Italy plans to adopt on Monday a decree to ensure the timely enforcement of its EU-funded recovery plan, a draft decree showed, while earmarking €6.2bn ($6.7bn) in tax breaks for companies committed to cutting energy consumption.
The scheme stems from a deal the government clinched with the EU to revise and revamp an overall investment programme now worth €194.4bn through 2026. Italy also aims to address some issues that have led it to fall behind schedule in spending the cash it has already received.
Rome spent €45.65bn between 2021 and 2023 of EU funds disbursed to support the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, below an original target of €86bn over the same period which had already been revised downwards several times and then set to €61.4bn in late 2022.
The draft decree, seen by Reuters, is still subject to changes. The cabinet is expected to discuss it at a meeting scheduled for 2.30pm GMT, the government said in a statement last week.
Among a raft of measures, the draft decree strengthens extensive powers of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office to appoint special commissioners if one or more targets are at risk.
About €3.15bn both this year and next will go to help companies investing in “innovation projects” to reduce their energy costs, with a maximum limit of eligible costs worth €50m per recipient firm per year.
An additional €150m are earmarked to promote start-ups investing in artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and 5G infrastructures, under a plan anchored by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).
Successive governments in Rome have presented the EU cash as the key to unlocking the country’s growth potential and modernising its sluggish economy, yet a commission report published last week projected a smaller effect than Italy’s own estimates.
According to Brussels’ “midterm evaluation” of the plan, under a best-case scenario Italian GDP in 2026 will be just over 2.5 percentage points higher than it would have been without the EU funds.
Italy’s latest official estimates had pencilled in a cumulative GDP increase of 3.4 points by 2026.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Italy to adopt decree for its EU-funded recovery plan
The government will also earmark €6.2bn in tax breaks for firms cutting energy consumption
Rome — Italy plans to adopt on Monday a decree to ensure the timely enforcement of its EU-funded recovery plan, a draft decree showed, while earmarking €6.2bn ($6.7bn) in tax breaks for companies committed to cutting energy consumption.
The scheme stems from a deal the government clinched with the EU to revise and revamp an overall investment programme now worth €194.4bn through 2026. Italy also aims to address some issues that have led it to fall behind schedule in spending the cash it has already received.
Rome spent €45.65bn between 2021 and 2023 of EU funds disbursed to support the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, below an original target of €86bn over the same period which had already been revised downwards several times and then set to €61.4bn in late 2022.
The draft decree, seen by Reuters, is still subject to changes. The cabinet is expected to discuss it at a meeting scheduled for 2.30pm GMT, the government said in a statement last week.
Among a raft of measures, the draft decree strengthens extensive powers of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office to appoint special commissioners if one or more targets are at risk.
About €3.15bn both this year and next will go to help companies investing in “innovation projects” to reduce their energy costs, with a maximum limit of eligible costs worth €50m per recipient firm per year.
An additional €150m are earmarked to promote start-ups investing in artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and 5G infrastructures, under a plan anchored by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).
Successive governments in Rome have presented the EU cash as the key to unlocking the country’s growth potential and modernising its sluggish economy, yet a commission report published last week projected a smaller effect than Italy’s own estimates.
According to Brussels’ “midterm evaluation” of the plan, under a best-case scenario Italian GDP in 2026 will be just over 2.5 percentage points higher than it would have been without the EU funds.
Italy’s latest official estimates had pencilled in a cumulative GDP increase of 3.4 points by 2026.
Reuters
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