Do you need a double technical structure for the Recovery Plan?
An ad hoc structure for the Revirurg Plan will not circumvent the problem of times, which are governed by well-defined accounting and administrative rules in force in the legal system. The in-depth analysis by Alfredo Ferrante, public executive
The issue of the best use of the approximately 209 billion euros allocated to Italy following the adoption of the Next Generation EU is at the center of the public debate. The very serious repercussions of the ongoing health and epidemiological crisis require, in fact, careful and timely planning and implementation of the National Recovery and ResiliencePlan (PNRR ), the investment program that Italy must present to the European Commission on the issues considered. fundamental for the coming years such as, for example, digitization, green revolution, social equity. The challenge is decisive given that economic depression and social crisis risk deeply weakening the civil and productive fabric of the country, with incalculable risks. There has certainly been no lack of criticism of the work done so far regarding the projects in progress: it is, in any case, a positive element, provided that an open, even harsh public discourse on the subject, which leads to the construction of an Italian position coherent is undoubtedly useful in favoring the implementation of all those conditions indispensable for the relaunch of the country.
In this context, the announcement of entrusting the management of the implementation of the PNRR to a large group of external experts led by 6 managers, each on one of the macro areas of intervention, which should support (overlap?) The structures has caused some perplexity. ministerial already involved in the various dossiers. The topic was posed, among others, by Barbara Casagrande , Secretary General of the National Union of State Leaders ( UNADIS ), who highlighted how the appointment of the umpteenth task force reflects "the lack of confidence of politicians in their own bureaucrats, relegated by a short-sighted politics to a fulfilling role as executives rather than proactive as innovators ", specifying that politics must, on the contrary, trust its bureaucrats, who respond" to the Republic in its own meaning of res publica, something of all ". If we add to this that an important politician such as Andrea Orlando , deputy secretary of the Democratic Party, argues that those who are familiar with "the condition of the public administration and ministries know well that it is practically impossible to guarantee rapid spending on the basis of a reorganization to be done in a few weeks ", remarking on Twitter that heads of cabinet and general managers are not suitable to manage the 200 billion in the field, it is evident that a systemic issue as big as a house rests in the middle of the table, which would be better to face without pretense.
It is necessary to return to a question that has hovered – and floated – in conferences on the public machine for at least 30 years: which public administration do you want and for what purpose ? The answer should be obvious: a PA that is a development lever for the country and that supports businesses, families and citizens, in a system in which all social formations participate in which, as stated in art. 2 of the Constitution, the personality of the individual takes place. It is a question to which a lot of politics has given wavering answers, dictated by contingency, rarely inspired by a generational vision. The result, as ForumPA recalled , is an elderly public administration in which, compared to 3.2 million Italian public employees (in absolute terms, 59% of the French, 65% of the British, 70% of the Germans), the average age of staff is 50.7 years, with 16.9% of employees over 60 and just 2.9% under 30, in which 4 out of 10 employees have a degree but with investments in training halved in ten years. It is a PA that has, however, withstood the brunt of the pandemic, albeit with all the difficulties dictated by new and unprecedented conditions, also thanks to the extraordinary adoption of remote work. Right now it faces the challenge of recovery and, like any other complex organization, it has to deal with change: those who don't change die and change costs money . What, then, does politics want to do?
The question of the management of EU funds obviously has a lot of political significance and concerns the free dynamics of relations between parliamentary and government forces. However, today more than ever, it cannot be overlooked that the consequences are administrative and organizational . If for some exponents of politics the point is trust in administrative structures, this involves a general theme of rules of engagement, for which orthodoxy wants politics, free in its ends, to have the addresses and to technostructure, not subject to spoils system , management and achievement of results. In the development of a sometimes tumultuous decision-maker / administrator relationship, the political-administrative system annually manages more than 800 billion euros (almost half of GDP), between ups and downs but ensuring the substantial continuity of public action: then ask oneself why it should not be able to ordinarily manage the European recovery treasury. It will be said: the management of the Recovery Fund is of an exceptional nature and, in light of the peculiarity of the situation, in which the EU funds will follow a reimbursement system on the basis of pre-established stages and results achieved, requires faster times and less complicated procedures than the framework of national rules. If this is the point, however, it should be noted that any superfetation of structures will not circumvent the problem of times, which are governed by well-defined accounting and administrative rules in force in the legal system. In short, maximum attention must be paid to avoiding a double risk : creating parallel structures which, despite having the best wealth of knowledge and skills, have difficulty interacting effectively with bureaucratic structures and, once again, resort to emergency-commissioner actions that contribute only partially to resolve the issues in the field.
The public administration is plagued by so many problems, needless to hide it, not infrequently supplied with the personal commitment of the workers. However, until the question just posed is given an answer that is, in the first place, organizational and wide-ranging, it will be difficult to make concrete steps forward in the debate. In this regard, we need a good dose of realism free from ideological shackles and take note of the fact that the largest organization in the country requires long-term ideas and investments in terms not only of money but, above all, of care and growth of human capital. As highlighted, among others, by the Forum of Inequalities and Movimenta in a document of proposals, "until now the PA has been orphaned of attention, in politics and in society, except we all complain about the bureaucracy that hinders and blocks", while it must become the priority of every minister, parliamentarian, politician elected at regional or local level, of businesses and of anyone who works with civil society. The policies of linear cuts, of the blocking of the replacement of the apparatuses and of the reforms at no cost, accompanied by an evident push for control and interference by most of the political decision-makers have in fact contributed to impoverishing the robustness of the state machine, of the regions and municipalities, regardless of the loss of meaning that has affected public personnel at all levels and that, too, has pulled and continues to pull the cart.
As they say, every crisis conceals opportunities within itself. What is offered today is to rethink, once and for all and in depth, the mission and profile of our public administration, which represents, as for any other country, a common heritage. As pointed out by the Censis secretary general, Giorgio De Rita , it is up to the national ruling class which, "in the effort to confine the emergency", seems to have "forgotten to put its hands on the plow", to find the strength to look ahead, beyond the short gaze and the need to think about today. Such as? By working for example, for an attractive recruitment for new recruits, finally making, for example, the modality of the course-competition of the National School of Administration the only channel of access for an increasingly updated, modern, republican public management. Or, again, taking advantage of the lesson of emergency smart working acquired during the pandemic and making new new ways of working structural that prescind, where possible, from the fetish of the desk and affect the paradigm shift of internal office cultures. But, above all, never forgetting that the most precious resource of all organizations, including public ones, is the human resource . If the obsessive care of the professional skills that he has available and that he must consolidate, promote and develop in the kitchen of his own home, in mutual respect – and enriching – of the roles between address and address, will not enter definitively and once and for all in the political agenda. management, it will be very difficult to play the game of life well. And the referee, let's remember, is about to blow the whistle.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/doppia-struttura-tecnica-per-il-recovery-plan/ on Sun, 06 Dec 2020 16:25:35 +0000.