PESCARA – It is certified in the bulletin published by IGRUE-General Inspectorate for Financial Relations with the European Unionthe slowness of the Abruzzo Region in relation to the use of European funds for the 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 programming periods.
To the December 31, 2023for the cycle of Programming 2014-2020 with respect to the ESF, ERDF, EAFRD and FSC Development and Cohesion Plan programmes, unused resources amount to 1.312 billion of Euro, out of a total of 3,165 billion.
For the cycle programming 2021-2027resources unused amount to 1.179 billion of Euro, out of a total of well over 1,185 billion, to which must be added the additional EAFRD resources and those allocated in February 2024, which for obvious reasons are not included in the monitoring in question. Abruzzo is also behind on the share of regional co-financing for the PR ERDF and ESF+ programs for 2021/2027.
This was made known by the opposition councilors of the Abruzzo Regional Council, who this morning held a press conference to expose the contents of an Interpellation which asks the Marsilio Council to clarify both the causes that led to this serious situation, and the strategies that are intended to be implemented to bridge the gap compared to other Italian regions.
The Document, presented not by chance on 9 May, the day on which the European Union is celebrated, bears the first signature of the group leader of the Democratic Party Silvio Paolucci, but found favor with all the opposition councilors who make up the Pact for the ‘Abruzzo, of which the regional councilor Luciano D’Amico is the leader.
“The resources of Abruzzo must always be used with the aim of making our territory achieve the growth spurt necessary to guarantee an improvement in the quality of life of the people of Abruzzo – he states Luciano D’Amico – but, in the region of omnibus and rain-fed funds, a central issue such as that of the co-financing of European funds, which is fundamental for concretely investing in the future of our territories, is left behind. At present it is likely that a simplistic solution will be found to cover the sums by diverting the FSC funds and therefore subtracting them from their primary purpose. This is a way of managing resources that we are absolutely against and on which we hope for a definitive change of direction. Europe can, and must, represent an important resource for the economic growth of our territory and we wanted to reiterate this today, the day in which the European Union is celebrated, recognizing in this institution a fundamental driving force for the sustainable development of our region. Europe can help Abruzzo generate value, but there is a need to look to the future knowing how to seize the right opportunities that arise from it. Today’s numbers demonstrate that in Abruzzo we are still far from these objectives.”
The analysis of the data, in fact, highlights the inability of the center-right to manage resources, which chains Abruzzo to the bottom of the Italian rankings for the use of structural funds:
to. on the ERDF 2014-2020 Abruzzo last place;
b. on the ESF 2014-2020 Abruzzo third to last place;
c. on the EAFRD 2014-2020 Abruzzo third to last place;
d. on the Development and Cohesion Plan FSC 2014-2020 Abruzzo 15th place.
“It’s a terrible photograph of Abruzzo taken byGeneral Inspectorate for Financial Relations with the European Union” explains Silvio Paolucci “while the citizens of Abruzzo have been grappling for years with the aftermath of the economic crisis generated by Covid, to which were then added the hardships of war, energy poverty and the crisis of businesses and workers, the Region is unable to effectively spend its resources it has at its disposal, due to the absence of effective programming and planning: the resources are at a standstill, while the people of Abruzzo are floundering in a thousand difficulties.
In addition to having very low numbers on the spending progress of the 2014/2020 and 2021/2027 funds – insists the Leader of the Democratic Party – the center-right is also accumulating delays on the share of regional co-financing for the 2021/2027 PR ERDF and ESF+ programmes.
The share that the Abruzzo Region must allocate amounts to €195.77 million, equal to 18% of the total funds addressed to our territory. But to date it seems that only crumbs have been allocated, no more than a few million, and that the timetable for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 is missing, with the result of keeping tenders and project financing at a standstill.
We expect that our interpellation will be provided with clear and exhaustive answers on how the Regional Council intends to make up for the delays accumulated in the 2014/2020 and 2021/2027 programming cycles.
And, with reference to the regional co-financing share of the ERDF and ESF+ PR programs of the same period, what is the financial envelopebroken down for each year of the programmes, e what have been the quotas allocated so far for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, how do you intend to cover them, beyond the easy answer of diverting FSC funds, while still taking them away from other expenses and investments.
Abruzzo – he concludes – must aim for the top of the national rankings on the topic of use of European funds and shake off the black shirt that the inefficiency of this regional government has made it wear for years. If well exploited, Europe is a great opportunity, only those who are not able to grasp its value can hope, in 2024, that there will be less Europe”.
