PNRR: Regions and local authorities are racing against the clock to complete the works

Refurbished hospitals, new infrastructure, digitalisation projects, environmental initiatives and support for businesses. Regions and local authorities are in a race against time to complete the projects under the NRRP, in light of the deadline of 30 June, in what Minister Tommaso Foti has described as a ‘huge undertaking’. Local authorities are currently working on the reports to be submitted, and the data is coming in over the next few days.

Piedmont has achieved 100 per cent of its targets, with 39,000 projects launched across the region totalling over 10 billion euros, alongside Tuscany. Specifically, the share managed by Piedmont amounted to 1.78 billion, covering 2,419 projects, whilst in Tuscany, in relation to the region’s total targets, 95.47 per cent of projects have been launched. Among the municipalities, Florence and Bologna stand out as having secured the largest amount of funding, followed by Turin – which has completed 100 per cent of its targets – and Naples. Specifically, the city of Naples has invested 1 billion euros of PNRR funds, having completed 90 per cent of the planned projects by the 30 June deadline. With over 840 million invested, Milan has also completed 93 projects out of a total of over 2,500 projects managed directly, with 3.4 billion invested in Lombardy.

The health and employment sectors are those to which the majority of resources have been allocated across the various regions, as is the case with the green transition, which in Trentino-Alto Adige accounts for 614.9 million euros, equivalent to 39.1 per cent of the total. As regards Trentino, over 125 action lines and around 11,800 initiatives have been launched, with funding of approximately 1 billion 570 million euros. Targets have also been met in the health sector, though not in all regions. Liguria has exceeded its targets for community homes and hospitals by 10 per cent, and in Veneto, out of a total of 23,000 completed projects, there are 99 community homes (with one more on the way and two falling short of the target) and 33 community hospitals in operation, compared with a PNRR target for the region of 30. Targets have also been exceeded in Sardinia, which called for the construction of 50 community homes, and in the Marche, with 28 out of 29 community homes completed, whilst in Friuli, the Marche and Lazio they have only been partially met. The picture of completed projects in Puglia is more mixed. The region has finalised eight projects involving investments in sewerage and wastewater treatment totalling over 42 million euros, whilst also completing the 12 projects relating to hydrogeological instability, worth 50 million. As regards healthcare, there are 83 community homes: 18 in Bari and its province, 16 in the Lecce area, 27 in the Foggia area, 13 in the Taranto area, 5 in the Brindisi area and 4 in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. Calabria has been allocated 10.369 billion for a total of 12,382 projects. In South Tyrol, 1.75 billion euros have been made available under the NRRP for 4,610 approved projects, of which 3,165 have already been completed. Molise has been allocated approximately 9.9 billion euros, out of a total of 194.4 billion distributed to Italian municipalities. In the Marche region, the number of projects within the region’s territory, fully or partially funded by the NRRP, currently stands at 18,699, of which around 11,900 have been completed, according to the region’s latest report dated 13 June. Approximately 4.4 billion euros have been allocated to the Abruzzo Region for some 8,000 planned projects.

Foti said he was proud of the results achieved, but “patience is needed”. “Bearing in mind that several billion euros still need to be accounted for and spent,” he told ANSA, “in order not to lose what has been achieved so far, once the NRRP comes to an end, we will need to be ready at EU level in terms of competitiveness.”