ANSA: Recovery Plan guidelines framed

The guidelines have been set out in 30 pages of text plus six 'macro-missions', government sources said, ANSA reports.

They will be presented at a meeting of the Interministerial Committee for EU Affairs (CIAE) at the office of Premier Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday morning.

Government sources said the six missions concern: digitization and innovation; ecological transition; health; infrastructure marked by sustainability; education and research; and social and territorial inclusion.

One of the projects listed is a structural reform of the labour tax wedge via a progressive reform of personal income tax IRPEF, sources said.

The plan also envisages a 'fairer' revision of social buffers within the framework of labour market reform to be achieved by April next year.

Among the missions is the completion of the national fibre-optic telecoms network, the gradual decarbonization of transport, and the fiber-optic cabling of schools and universities.

The plan also aimed to double economic growth to bring it into line with the Eu average of 1.6% and boost the employment rate by 10 percentage points to arrive at the EU average of 73.2%.

Other targets include: «raising indicators of wellbeing, equity and environmental sustainability; and reducing the territorial gaps in GDP, income and wellbeing, given that the north-south gap has widened in terms of GDP, employment and living standards.

The government also plans to promote «a recovery in the fertility rate«, to reduce school dropout rates, reinforce safety and security with regard to natural disasters, and guarantee the sustainability of public finances.

Rome is set to benefit from the largest chunk of the Recovery Fund, as it has been hardest hit by the economic earthquake caused by the COVID emergency.

Bit in order to qualify it must propose projects which must be approved by Brussels.

Premier Conte has already announced that the government will present a swathe of green-economy and digitization projects along with schemes aimed at helping the jobless and young and projects aimed at reducing the north-south gap.

European Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said Tuesday that debt generated by the Recovery Fund would be paid «via the EU's own resources and digital and green taxation«.

Gentiloni told the Brussels Economic Forum that «we will go back to normality« in relation to the easing of State aid and Stability Pact rules due to the emergency.

«It's not forever,» said Gentiloni.

«But first of all we must decide on the time frame because we must give the economies the necessary time to recover».

He added that «we are working on a minimum wage, I think the time is right».