Will the Pnrr be yet another wasted opportunity? This is why Italian SMEs are worried
Entrepreneurs have a duty of optimism and are aware that no goal can be achieved without sacrifices and difficulties. Nonetheless, we believe that the political class of this country has a duty not to disappoint those who place their trust in them and in their work. And the Pnrr is the last chance. The speech by Isa Gatti, national councilor of Unimpresa
In these hours, we gather, among our associates, a strong concern about the management of the funds of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr). For days, in fact, there have been rumors about the possibility, increasingly concrete, that there is a stop to the disbursement by the European Union of a substantial part of the funds already allocated. A reduction that would be the result of Italy's delays with respect to the roadmap for the implementation of the projects.
The Court of Auditors has estimated expenditure for the three-year period 2020-2022 to be over 20 billion euros lower than the initial forecasts (-49.7%). It must be said that a delay that can only be filled with the all-Italian attitude of operating last minute and in full emergency is joined by some not irrelevant unknowns, starting with the reform of the Procurement Code, approved this week, on which the uncertain judgment of the European Union itself.
Something isn't working right. Much depends, in all likelihood, on the lack of commitment made by those who have held and, today, hold institutional and political positions. Nothing comparable to the sacrifices and courage that Italian entrepreneurs have shown both during the Covid pandemic and in this last year marred by the war in Ukraine: the deep uncertainties have not stopped those who do business. If the efforts made by the Italian productive fabric, and with a financial crisis that could be far worse than what has been revealed so far, Italian politics were to respond with a resounding failure on the Pnrr front, a formidable assist would be needed for fans of anti-politics and of the most vulgar populism.
Beyond simplistic reasoning devoid of civic sense, we prefer to remain optimistic and think that our country will be able to perform yet another miracle, despite the fact that many are losing hope: Italy will be able to obtain European funds and use them to build better infrastructures , modernize the country system and make a change both from a social and an economic point of view.
Entrepreneurs have a duty of optimism and are aware that no goal can be achieved without sacrifices and difficulties. Nonetheless, we believe that the political class of this country has a duty not to disappoint those who place their trust in them and in their work. And the Pnrr is the last chance.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/il-pnrr-sara-lennesima-occasione-sprecata-ecco-perche-le-pmi-italiane-sono-preoccupate/ on Tue, 28 Mar 2023 18:22:55 +0000.