The Pnrr proceeds with some foreseeable problems. The report of the Court of Auditors

A few days ago, the President of the Republic formulated a clear and acceptable warning on the need to fully and promptly implement the Pnrr. Recalling De Gasperi’s speech on the “pole”, Mattarella has turned to everyone to work for the good of Italy. Obviously, he did not dwell on the detailed aspects. To understand which actions are going in the right direction and which – instead – require adjustments, the accurate report of the Court of Auditors on the state of implementation of the Pnrrwhich was presented yesterday morning.

Among the more positive aspects, there is, first of all, the completion of the ReGIS information system, well managed by the General Accounting Office of the State and indispensable in the logic according to which it is necessary to “know in order to deliberate”. There is also the achievement of the 55 objectives relating to the second half of last year, even if they concerned more reforms, such as civil and tax justice and competition, than investments, for which progress has in any case been recorded mainly on the railway infrastructure side. Very significant, in relation to the European expenditure destined for our country, is its territorial distribution, since almost 40 per cent is concentrated in the South and Islands, almost 30 per cent in the North and 15 in the Centre, beyond the measures not referable to individual regions.

But there is the other side of the coin. According to the Court of Auditors, the shared objective of reducing territorial gaps was pursued through an approach that “proves effective in preserving the South from a hijacking of resources”, but is not equally effective in ensuring that the accumulated delays, especially in the digital sector, can be recovered. A second problem concerns the reorganization of the governance of the Pnrr. There the choice of the Meloni government to modify its structure will require a very considerable commitment to “avoid the start-up phase of the new structures being characterized by … difficulties similar to those” that emerged at the beginning. It will require it all the more as the spending peak, more than 45 billion, will be concentrated in the two-year period 2024-25. Finally, there is the crux of the municipalities, which have to implement more than 55 percent of the projects and more than a fifth of the total financial resources. Confirming the fears already expressed by other institutions, the Court of Auditors points out the problems deriving from management difficulties, i.e. from obsolete procedures and diverging technologies, and the lack of technical skills. There is a serious risk that many municipalities will not be able to manage those resources quickly and well, especially for public works.

Turning the Court’s observations positively, it can be said that, if the government has really understood how important the Pnrr is for Italy, especially for young people, it must act coherently, not threatening the exercise of substitutive powers with respect to local authorities late, but by arranging interventions and support measures. What better way can there be to realize the national interest?

The text of the report of the Court of Auditors

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