Recovery fund: Council greenlights Italy’s targeted amendment of its national plan

The Council today adopted an implementing decision approving the amended recovery and resilience plan of Italy. Italy’s amended plan affects 10 measures, including energy efficiency incentives under the so-called ‘Superbonus’, the increase of childcare facilities, the development of the space industry and the film industry and sustainable transport, among other things.

On 11 July 2023, Italy requested to amend its RRP on the grounds that the plan is partially no longer achievable because of objective circumstances.

The decision is based on the Commission’s assessment that the modifications put forward by Italy are justified and do not affect the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of its recovery and resilience plan (RRP).

The estimated total costs of the amended RRP remains unaltered, € 191.5 billion, comprised of € 68.8 billion in grants and  € 122.6 billion in loans.

Background

The recovery and resilience facility (RRF) is the EU’s programme of large-scale financial support in response to the challenges the pandemic has posed to the European economy. It is the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU, a temporary recovery instrument that allows the Commission to raise funds to help repair the immediate economic and social damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

To benefit from the facility’s € 724 billion (in current prices), member states have submitted recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) to the Commission, setting out the reforms and investments they intend to implement by the end of 2026.

To date, all RRPs have been approved, 31 payment requests have been received from 19 member states, and € 153 billion have been disbursed.