Italy agrees to unblock EUR 19 billion of funds
On Thursday, the Italian government announced an agreement with the European Commission that will allow the country to receive €18.5 billion in funding from the EU fund to overcome the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is stated in a message on the website of the Italian government.
Rome, together with the European Commission, has prepared a new proposal that will allow approving the implementation of a sufficient number of so-called beacons (a set of reforms and investment goals) provided by the COVID fund, and eventually unlock the third tranche of almost 19 billion euros.
The dispute concerned student housing reform. For several months, Italy insisted that it had fulfilled the relevant beacon, but the European Commission disagreed, which delayed the disbursement of funds.
As a result, Rome and Brussels agreed to "transfer" the milestone to the fourth tranche of the EU's €16.5 billion Covid fund. The parties plan to finalize the agreement in the coming weeks.
"The total amount of 35 billion euros provided for (in the fund for Italy - Ed.) will be received in full in 2023," Rome is confident.
Author - Olena Madiak, 21/07/2023
