Transition 5.0, ministry reassures companies: here are the funds available

The resources are there. And they are sufficient to cover a large part of the investments implemented by companies. Faced with the re-emerging uncertainties around the funds available for Transition 5.0, sources at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy reassure on the funding available and clarify how the game is not yet closed: the last date for communicating the completion of projects is 28 February, and only at that point will it be possible to have the final picture of any missing resources.

As of today, 2.750 billion are available for Transition 5.0, the support for digital and energy transformation, MIMM sources clarify: this is 2.5 billion as a result of the Pnrr remodulation and another 250 million added at the end of the year with the Transition 5.0 decree, which awaits the green light from Parliament (tomorrow it will be examined by the Senate Environment Committee and then in the House). To these allocations must be added the 1.3 billion envisaged by the Budget law currently earmarked for Transition 4.0: in fact, the applications not covered by Transition 5.0 would therefore use the Transition 4.0 programme, which is somewhat less appreciated by businesses because it has a tax credit of up to 20% (compared to the rate of up to 45% envisaged for 5.0). These resources, Mimit's sources point out, certainly cover all completed investments and certainly a large part of those for which down payments have been made to date. Specifically, as of today, there are 1.359 billion euro of completed and verifiable investments, i.e., those that will certainly qualify for the benefit. Then there are a further EUR 2.1 billion of projects for which the 20% down payment has been made: but in this case the numbers are still fluctuating, because some investments may not have been completed by 31 December or their scope may be revised downwards. Finally, there are about 1.3 billion investments that have only been booked to date: here too, the figure could eventually be revised downwards.

The knot of available resources, however, is worrying. Already in recent days, some trade associations had sounded the alarm about 'insufficient' coverage. "Announcing numbers without coverage does not create investment. To play with billions of euro on the skin of businesses is irresponsible," raises the M5s group leader in the Senate Stefano Patuanelli, who calls for "an immediate return to Transition 4.0 as it was conceived and grounded in 2019/2020 before it is too late".