In collaboration with The Parliamentary Intergroup for Subsidiarity
Speech by Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs.
Participants: Alessandro Cattaneo, Member of the Presidency Coordination and National Head of Departments of Forza Italia; Carlo Fidanza, Head of the European Parliament Group of Fratelli d’Italia; Maurizio Lupi, President of the Parliamentary Intergroup for Subsidiarity; Fabio Melilli, President of the Budget Commission at the Chamber of Deputies, Partito Democratico; Giovanni Andrea Toselli, President and CEO of PWC. Introduced and moderated by Luciano Fontana, Director of Corriere della Sera.

The PNRR – National Plan for Recovery and Resilience – amounts to 235.12 billion euros, as much as the funds allocated to Italy by Next Generation EU. Is this really going to mark a turning point for the European Union, which finally agrees to issue common debt, or is it just a parenthesis due to the pandemic and then there will be a return to austerity and rigorous policies? Is this really the beginning of a deep change in the Stability and Growth Pact? Will the debt be really beneficial or will it once again just be the usual money allocation, a new name for traditional welfare spending? Will we be able to spend it all, given Italy’s historical inability to spend European funds? At what stage of development are the reforms to which the National Reform Programme is linked, first and foremost those of the judiciary system and of the public administration?