Digitalisation, innovation and culture; the green transition; infrastructure for sustainable mobility; education and research; inclusion and cohesion; health: these are the six objectives enshrined in Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which was adopted by the country’s council of ministers on 24 April, following lengthy negotiations with the European Commission. The plan aims to tackle some of the structural problems that exist in the Italian economy, including the low level of participation of women and young people in the labour market. Italy will be the leading beneficiary of the EU recovery package, with €191.5 billion to be invested between 2021 and 2026. The PNRR will be presented to the Italian parliament at the start of this week and sent to Brussels before the 30 April deadline.
A country lagging behind. As Mario Draghi, the Italian premier, underlined in his introduction, the Covid-19 crisis has hit a country “that was already economically, socially and environmentally fragile”. Italy is approaching 120,000 deaths from coronavirus and its GDP fell by 8.9% in 2020 compared to a European average of 6.2%, while significant slowdowns had already accumulated over recent decades. Between 1999 and 2019, Italy’s GDP increased by just 7.9% compared to growth of 32.4% in France
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