Italy To Present COVID-19 Recovery Plan To EU By Mid-October – PM

Italy will present its proposals for confronting the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic to the EU in mid-October, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in an interview published on Wednesday.

On July 21, European Union leaders reached a historic agreement on a 750-billion-euro ($900-billion) coronavirus recovery plan, financed for the first time by joint debt.

Countries benefitting from the programme, including Italy which will receive 209 billion euros, must present their national recovery plans to Brussels, focussing on the EU Commission’s priorities of ecological and digital transition, as well as improved competitiveness.

“Our intention is to submit our recovery plan in mid-October,” Conti told the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano.

“We’re currently working on a selection of proposals that respond directly to the criteria of European funding that entail investment and structural reforms to make the country more competitive and robust,” Conte told the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano.

“We will pay great attention to material and immaterial infrastructure and aim to invest in schools, universities and research. We will also use the opportunity to improve the efficiency of public administration and justice,” Conte said.

AFP