The European Commission has given the green light for the payment of the ninth installment of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr) destined for Italy, for an amount equal to 12.8 billion euros. This is the penultimate tranche of the Plan and represents an important step in the process of implementing the planned reforms and investments. According to what was communicated by the European institutions, the positive evaluation is linked to the achievement of 50 objectives and milestones. With this payment, the total resources already provided to Italy will rise to approximately 166 billion euros, equal to 85% of the entire Plan. The Executive Vice President of the European Commission with responsibility for Cohesion, Raffaele Fitto, underlined that “the reforms and related investments support important changes for citizens and businesses: a more efficient public administration, faster justice and the strengthening of the education system”.
The objectives achieved and the general picture
The approval of the ninth installment is part of a broader framework of progress of the Italian Pnrr. According to official data, a total of 416 objectives were achieved between reforms and investments, with over 655 thousand projects financed. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, declared that “Italy consolidates the European lead in the implementation of the Pnrr in terms of resources received and results achieved”. A path which, according to the government, marks “the transition from a spending logic to a culture of reforms and structural investments”.
The Minister for European Affairs, Tommaso Foti, also highlighted the overall numbers of the Plan: “416 objectives achieved, 166 billion euros assured for Italy, over 541 thousand interventions completed and approximately 100 thousand in the execution or completion phase”. With the ninth instalment, 73% of the overall objectives set were achieved.
The sectors involved by the Pnrr
Among the results linked to the release of funds, interventions emerge in various strategic areas. In the sector of education and social policies, educational support programs have been activated which have involved over 800 thousand students at risk of dropping out of school, as well as socio-educational interventions for more than 44 thousand minors in the South. On the digitization front, the computerization of approximately 7.75 million judicial files was completed. In the healthcare sector, the implementation of the electronic health record was recorded for 85% of general practitioners and the technological modernization of 280 hospital facilities.
A significant part of the objectives also concerns environment and safety. Among the results achieved is the renewal of the fleet of the National Fire Brigade, with over 3,800 new vehicles with low environmental impact. Interventions have also been launched to reduce water losses, through the districtization of approximately 45 thousand kilometers of networks. Added to these are redevelopment projects for 100 historic parks and gardens. On the infrastructure and connectivity front, specific funds have been activated, including the National Connectivity Fund and tools intended for production chains and agro-energy.
In the field of work, the GOL program (Guarantee of employability of workers) was implemented, which involved around 3 million beneficiaries, with training courses for at least 600 thousand people. 326 Employment Centers were strengthened and digital training programs were launched, involving thousands of civil service volunteers and hundreds of thousands of school system workers. For businesses, particularly in the tourism sector, tax credits and competitiveness financing have been recognized for approximately 4 thousand companies. On the university construction front, agreements have been initiated for the Fund for student accommodation.
Reduction of justice times
A highlighted result concerns the judicial system. In fact, an 85% reduction in the backlog in the regional administrative courts and in the Council of State was recorded. This is an intervention that directly affects the efficiency of administrative justice, historically characterized by long times. The digitization of files and organizational reforms have contributed to achieving this objective. With the approval of the ninth instalment, the path of the Italian Pnrr is approaching the final phase. The last tranche of financing remains to be completed and the remaining objectives to be achieved by 2026.
