ROME (Reuters) – Italy is sticking to the reform timetable required to access almost 200 billion euros ($210.6 billion) of European Union funding, European Economics Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Sunday.
The new government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni must meet another 25 targets by the end of the year to receive the next tranche of funding for its post-COVID Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
There are concerns that the government, which took office only in October, will fall behind on its commitments and that Italy could ultimately miss out on some of the investment.
“Regarding the PNRR, I would say that up to now there aren’t any delays,” Gentiloni told Rai 3 television.
“At the moment, the government is committed to respecting the timetable,” added Gentiloni, a former Italian prime minister.
Gentiloni said there was scope in the early months of next year for Italy and other EU countries to revise some of the details of their investment plans but warned them not to use inflation as an excuse for rewriting the programme or to backslide on actual reforms.
He cited the example of targets for building student accommodation in Italy as one area where the EU could show some flexibility.
He stressed that the funding was a one-off chance to modernise Italy and should not be viewed as a headache because of timetables or targets.
“Let’s see it for what it is, a great chance for the country. The headline is that Italy has the chance after 20 years of very low growth for a shake-up,” he said.
($1 = 0.9497 euros)
(Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Ros Russell)
