Listen to the audio version of the article
It was, and continues to be, a great effort. But the Sicilian Region, at least according to the official version coming from the palaces, managed not to lose resources from the programming of the 2014-2020 EU funds: the overall allocation, as you will remember, was 4.273 billion. The deadline of 31 December 2023 was preceded by a series of maneuvers and reprogramming desired by the regional government led by Renato Schifani. To the rescue, so to speak, of the Region (not just Sicily obviously) the decision of the EU Commission to give the regions more time for the closing reports: now there is time until 2026 to present them but the offices of the Department of Planning guided by Vincenzo Falgares they hope to reach the appointment by 2025.
The Region has reprogrammed resources by introducing rapid spending measures for over 800 million euros, to support, first and foremost, citizens (family energy bonus) and Sicilian businesses (energy bonus, non-repayable contribution for businesses, guarantee fund for investments), hit hard by the disastrous events of the recent past. The Safe thematic objective (Supporting Affordable Energy) was created, worth 369.5 million euros, the effects of which in terms of commitments and payments have yet to be revealed.
New tenders coming soon
we look at the implementation of the 2021-2027 operational program: all the regions involved are substantially behind schedule also, and if we want above all, due to the ballast of the previous program which was strongly influenced in its implementation by the Covid pandemic. The new Po ERDF program (European Regional Development Fund) is worth 5.858 billion (of which 4.101 billion is the EU share). The construction site is open: in recent months, in addition to a competition on communication which has created quite a bit of discontent among some of the companies, the calendar has been published (the fulfillment of which is an obligation) of the calls for proposals which «has the objective of guaranteeing potential beneficiaries precise and timely information regarding the planning of activities that concern them”. A second calendar is already ready and should be published in the next few days. The notices to be published are marked in the calendar and this should give an acceleration to commitments and spending: according to forecasts we will start to see some results in September.
Reprogramming for strategic technologies
But other news could arrive before September on the reprogramming of funds front. On the basis of the Step regulation (2024/795), which focuses on investments for the creation of a platform for strategic technologies for Europe, the Region has started the reasoning to reprogram 15% of the allocation as permitted by community rules by diverting up to 900 million euros for energy and green transition and the development of new strategic technologies for the EU (chips are among these). A journey that should be completed by the end of August.
Meanwhile, in recent days the regional government has given the green light to the new governance for territorial policies in Sicily which allows the release of 1.7 billion euros of the 2021-2027 regional ERDF programme. In this reorganization, the Planning department will play the role of coordination authority for territorial policies. The individual departments of the administration will be centers of financial responsibility in relation to their matters of competence. The local authorities’ offices will be responsible for implementing the strategic objective “A Europe closer to citizens”, envisaged by two community regulations to support the economic, social and environmental development of urban and non-urban areas in an integrated way.
