State-Regions agreement to divert another 700 million EU funds to the housing emergency

Agreement reached at the State-Regions Conference to divert 700 million euro of European funds from the 2021-2027 regional programmes to the housing emergency. This is a further effort requested by the Ministry for Cohesion Policies to the regions, in addition to the 360 million euro of European funds already earmarked for the housing item in the mid-term review that is closing in these days. Those who will not be able to change their programmes in time will be able to resort to ordinary reprogramming by June. The European resources that the Italian regions will allocate to the housing emergency thus exceed a total of one billion euros. Including the resources that three national cohesion programmes have earmarked for housing (Pon Metro, Pon Inclusione and Jtf), this brings the total to over 3 billion euros of European resources available to tackle the housing emergency, which mainly concerns large cities and is aimed at facilitating access to sustainable and affordable housing. "The agreement," says a note issued by the ministry at the end of the extraordinary session of the State-Regions Conference on Monday 29 December, "makes it possible to overcome an emergency approach by promoting a structural policy with shared responsibility between the government and the regions, thanks to an unprecedented allocation of resources. Through the definition of clear and shared criteria, the Agreement makes it possible to allocate additional European resources to the housing issue, safeguarding regional balances and enhancing the commitments already undertaken by the Regions'. (Gi.Ch.)