The EU grants Italy an additional 1.5 billion for recovery. More than two-thirds will go to the South

Relaunching the south, but above all its young people and its female workforce. The European Commission comes to Italy’s rescue, making an additional 1.5 billion euros available from the NextGenerationEU program for the pandemic recovery. It is the large container that includes the recovery fund, but this time the contribution comes from ReactEu, the program for strategic investments.

Four fifths of the overall total, 1.2 billion out of the 1.5 billion granted, are earmarked for the creation of jobs in the southern regions. The contribution, according to the European Commission, makes it possible to “reduce by 30%” the social security contributions payable by small businesses for their workers in Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia. To be eligible for this aid, companies must employ workers for at least nine months after submitting the request for reduction.

Then there are 139.1 million euros intended to reduce the social security contributions payable by employers who, in the course of 2022, hire people under the age of 36 with permanent contracts. A measure a measure which in Brussels is expected to benefit over 48 thousand people. The master data requirement of the measure stands out. Until now, the measures for young people in the EU were aimed at the under 25 category, extended to the under 29s in Italy upon request and in agreement with the national authorities. This intervention rewrites the concept of “young” in Italy, moved to 35 years of age.

The package also provides for 88.5 million euros to reduce the social security contributions payable by employers who hire women in 2022. It is estimated that over 54 thousand Italian citizens will benefit from this targeted measure, but it is not clear whether they will be more than the 48 thousand young people or whether a part of them will be absorbed in the special chapter of 139.1 million euros.

Finally the training. Almost 280 thousand euros will be used to compensate for the hours during which staff participate in training courses to acquire new green and digital skills. This measure is useful for over 5,700 businesses according to estimates by the European Commission.

“This new funding will create new opportunities,” says Nicolas Schmit, the Commissioner for Employment. Accompanying words that sound like a warning to Italy. The EU offers opportunities, now it is up to the country system to seize them.