EU funds: Emilia-Romagna has already committed half of the ERDF and ESF+ 2021-2027 resources

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It is used to placing itself at the top of the EU rankings for spending capacity of EU resources and this time too Emilia-Romagna does not deny itself: on the occasion of the work of the ESF+ and ERDF Surveillance Committees which have just been held in Ravenna – to the Classis City and Territory Museum, transformed into a reception hub for those displaced by the floods – the regional budget and economic development departments have formalized the figure of over 50% of resources – around one billion euros – already committed between ERDF and ESF+ on the 2021-2027 programming. Two funds that bring a total of over 2 billion euros to the Via Emilia for the seven-year period.

More in detail, on the Regional Program of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2021-2027, the region has already committed 54% of the resources in less than a year with the implementation of 31 tenders, in addition to two procedures for the identification of financial instrument managers and 1,184 projects already approved. While, as regards the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), 43% of the resources are already under tender or approved by July 2023: 45 notices published and 855 operations approved. “In Emilia-Romagna, investments financed with are recognized above all for their ability to redefine and strengthen the role of public services and to amplify the impulse to growth of the private sector.

This is in line with the strategy also outlined in the Pact for work and the climate”, comment the regional councilors for the Budget and Relations with the EU, Paolo Calvano, and for Economic Development, Work and Training, Vincenzo Colla, at the end of the Committees supervisory bodies (composed of the Region, the European Commission, representatives of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and various Ministries and institutional, social and economic subjects who sit on the supervisory bodies). “It does not want to be just a symbol of holding the Committee in Ravenna, in one of the areas most affected by the floods of recent months. We want to give a concrete sign of trust and hope in the present and future of the entire Emilia-Romagna system, in view of overcoming the emergency and starting the restart and reconstruction phase.

A strong signal of attention also from Europe”, say Calvano and Colla, who are waiting in Bologna on Monday for the visit of the new reconstruction commissioner Francesco Paolo Figliuolo for the first inspection of the areas devastated by the May rains. 2022 of the European Commission’s Cohesion Data portal confirm Emilia-Romagna at the top of the ranking of Italian regions, together with Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Valle d’Aosta, with 100% of ESF and ERDF resources for the 2014- programming period 2020 used, certified and reimbursed. This is 481 million euros spent in Emilia-Romagna between research, innovation, sustainability and territorial development (the ERDF program which in total has allocated 36 billion to Italy) and another 786 million euros spent on employment, training and inclusiveness thanks to the European Social Fund (out of a total of 23 billion to Italy). 100% of the three virtuous northern regions are confronted, in the previous seven-year programming, with an average expenditure of the Italian regions of 75% and just 43% of expenditure for national programmes.