MNI: Draghi To Get Tough On Ministers In Push For EU Cash

Italian Prime Minister Draghi has signalled a tougher approach to members of his coalition government, and will order new checks on ministers to ensure they are on track to meet targets that must be achieved in order to obtain funds from Europe’s NextGenerationEU Covid aid package, government sources told MNI.

While leaders of coalition parties including the League’s Matteo Salvini had signalled that they expected a bigger role in decision-making as 2023 elections draw near, Draghi calculates that they can be cajoled into acting in the common interest “at least for a while” as Italy strives for targets needed to receive a second NextGenEU tranche of EUR24.1 billion after June, a Finance Ministry source said.

Top politicians are also likely to concede the need for the government to hold together in order to avoid early elections, after poor publicity for many of them during the recent process to select a national president, which ended with the re-election of Sergio Mattarella as Draghi lost out in a bid for the role.

“Nobody wants early elections now or to appear as responsible for breaking the government,” said the source, noting that Draghi also trusted that his appointed ministers will be loyal to him and not to their political parties.

Under NextGenEU, Italy has to meet 45 milestones and targets by June 30^, and then another 55 by Dec. 31 in order to receive a third tranche.

ITALIAN TREASURY TO COVER ANY DELAYS

While the June targets, including measures affecting education and a reform of public procurement rules, are not expected to be politically challenging, officials recognise that it might be difficult to get necessary legislation through parliament on time, according to a source in a committee overseeing the National Recovery Plan which sets out how the NextGenEU money will be spent.

The targets also require officials to line up infrastructure and digital investment projects included in the Recovery Plan, which is proving challenging to accomplish at speed, the source said, though he noted that the government was now strongly focussed on the task following the distraction of the presidential election.

While Draghi is driving for the objectives to be met, failure to meet the June deadline would only push back delivery of the tranche, which EU sources told MNI would be paid whenever the targets are achieved. Italy’s Treasury would also if necessary advance the EUR24.1 billion to pay for infrastructure spending to make sure projects do not have to await cash from Brussels, a Finance Ministry spokesperson said, adding that small delays in receiving the NextGenEU tranche could not be ruled out but were not a major concern.

It is likely to become more difficult for the prime minister to keep control of his government as national elections due in spring 2023 draw closer, with the populist Five-Star Movement and the right-wing League prime candidates for causing disruption, officials said. A taste of problems ahead has come in recent days as both parties push for a spending package to counter the effects of rising energy costs on families and small companies, a push to which Draghi is likely to respond with only limited measures.