Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

The Commission has given a positive preliminary assessment of the sixth disbursement to Italy under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU, for €8.7 billion (net of pre-financing), i.e. €1.8 billion in grants and €6.9 billion in loans.

The Commission said in a statement issued in Brussels and received by us, that after its assessment of the disbursement request submitted on 28 June 2024, the Commission has provisionally concluded that Italy has satisfactorily completed 23 milestones and 16 objectives set out in the Council’s implementation decision for the sixth disbursement.

The 17 reforms and 17 investments will drive positive change for citizens and businesses in areas such as digitalization, public administration, business environment, justice, work, clean mobility, renewable energy, gas supply security, agri-food, waste management and health.

The main measures in this disbursement request include:

Reform to combat undeclared work: Italy has continued its efforts to prevent and address undeclared work. More specifically, Italy has strengthened inspections and sanctions, introduced targeted financial incentives to promote declared work, implemented a national information campaign, improved the collection of detailed data on undeclared work, trained labour centre operators and implemented measures to address labour exploitation in agriculture. Investing in the Adriatic Pipeline (RepowerEU): Contracts have been awarded for the construction of key components of the Adriatic Gas Pipeline – the compressor station in Sulmona and the pipeline connecting the Sestino and Minerbio nodes. This REPowerEU investment (worth €375 million) will strengthen the security of gas supplies for Italy and Europe, supporting efforts to diversify energy sources and reduce dependence on Russian gas. This investment complements the approximately €40 billion allocated under the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan for renewable energy and energy efficiency, highlighting the significant commitment made to drive the green transition while enhancing energy security. Regarding the next steps, the European statement said: "The Commission has now sent its initial assessment of Italy's compliance with the required milestones and targets for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee, which has four weeks to provide its opinion. Payment to Italy can be made after the Economic and Financial Committee's opinion and the Commission's adoption of the payment decision. The Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures. The plan will be supported by €194.4 billion, i.e. €71.8 billion in grants and €122.6 billion in loans.