European Commission approves payment of Italy’s ninth NRRP instalment, worth EUR 12.8 billion

The European Commission has today announced its positive assessment regarding the payment of the ninth and penultimate instalment of Italy's NRRP (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), worth EUR 12.8 billion. In the coming weeks, this payment will take the total funds received by Italy to EUR 166 billion, confirming that all planned objectives have been fully achieved.

"With the payment approval for the ninth instalment, linked to the fulfilment of 50 objectives, Italy has consolidated its leadership in Europe for NRRP implementation, in terms of both resources received and results achieved: 416 milestones and targets, including reforms and strategic investments for growth, with tangible benefits for households and businesses. Italy's NRRP model has marked a shift from a spending-oriented logic to a culture of reforms and structural investments. This is the path that will guide our development policies beyond 2026, for a stronger and more cohesive Italy able to be a key player in global challenges", stated the President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni.

The Minister for European Affairs, the NRRP and Cohesion Policy, Tommaso Foti, commented: "The official figures regarding Italy's Plan speak for themselves: 416 goals achieved; EUR 166 billion secured for Italy; 655,677 funded projects; more than 541,000 finished projects and approximately 100,000 currently underway or being completed. With the approval of the penultimate instalment, we have achieved 73% of the Plan's objectives, which is well above the European average. In the context of the NRRP, with the new governance and through synergistic collaboration among all the institutions involved, Italy has overcome the structural weaknesses that had slowed the nation down for decades, removing chronic obstacles to growth, ensuring longer lasting development and representing an example to be followed after the positive experience of the Plan".

Among the fifty objectives confirmed by the payment approval for the ninth instalment, of particular significance: educational support for more than 800,000 students at risk of, or currently experiencing, school dropout; social and educational measures for more than 44,000 minors in the Mezzogiorno; digitalisation of 7,750,000 judicial files; implementation of the Electronic Health Record for 85% of GPs and modernisation of hospital technological and digital equipment for 280 healthcare facilities. The milestones and targets reached for the ninth instalment also include: upgrades to the national fire brigade's fleet with more than 3,800 new eco-friendly vehicles; the reduction of water losses by organising 45,000 km of network into districts; implementation of the national programme for the guaranteed employability of workers ('GOL'), involving three million beneficiaries, providing training for at least 600,000 people and boosting 326 job centres; digital skills training for 8,300 volunteers through 'universal civil service'-accredited organisations and for 650,000 school principals, teachers and administration staff; tax credit recognition and the disbursement of funds for competitiveness intended for a total of 4,000 tourism businesses; the redevelopment of 100 historical parks and gardens. These are in addition to several reforms, adoption of the final report regarding the audit plan to reduce payment delays by public authorities, and strategic investments, including the implementation agreements for a swift activation of the 'fund for university student housing', the 'national connectivity fund', the 'revolving fund for supply chain contracts' and the 'agri-solar park facility'. With regard to the judicial system, the important result was achieved regarding an 85% reduction in backlog at the Regional Administrative Courts ('Tribunali Amministrativi Regionali') and the Council of State ('Consiglio di Stato')