“They turn reality upside down just to try to corner us.” When the fanfare of Republic Day has died down, the war horn of the Palazzo Chigi thunders again against Brussels. The statements made yesterday by some spokespersons of the EU Commission with respect to the limits that Rome has introduced to the action of the Court of Auditors on Pnrroutraged the EU affairs minister Raffaele Fitto and that together with him follow the file on behalf of Georgia Meloni.
That “we do not comment on national invoices” followed by the phrase “we have an agreement with the Italian authorities on the need to have an effective control and audit system” based also “on the Italian structures in charge of these checks and controls” , was in fact so indigestible that it gave birth to a (very long) vitriolic note in Palazzo Chigi and all in the matter of law. About the words that rained late in the morning from the Berlaymont Palace “The government – we read – has some observations of merit and method”. Immediately after having shared “the need for controls” and underlining how a “long, cordial and fruitful meeting” has already taken place with the accounting magistrates, the executive accuses the Commission of having developed an “uninformed prejudice” about the actions carried out in Rome. Some harsh words that, in the evening, force the spokespersons of Brussels to take half a step back. The unfortunate exits were in fact the result of “confusion”: “I said that the Italian authorities have created a specific institution to control the use of Pnrr funds and that the Commission will continue to deal with this aspect, given that has agreed. with the Italian authorities.” So little more than a misunderstanding? Net denial of the EU would not seem.
THE NOTE
“The spokesperson states that “the European Commission does not comment on draft laws”, but immediately – without further investigating the substance – the same spokesperson for the Commission follows up with considerations that fuel controversial instrumental policies that do not correspond to reality ” add. Chigi Palace In addition, and this is the main point on which he points, the disputed rules “do not modify what has already been agreed between the European Commission and the Italian Government” because they do not intervene in the provisions of the decree which, since May of 2021, “governs the controls of Pnrr funds by the Court of Auditors”. A text (Legislative Decree 77, promoted by Mario Draghi) which, moreover, represented one of the first objectives to be achieved in order to obtain community funds and, as such, “has been positively informed” precisely by those who challenge it today. . Here, then, lies the “contradiction” in which the European spokesmen have fallen. “They bring distorted realities with the precise intention of weakening us”, says a minister.
The same with regard to the other cornerstone of the intervention of the Melonians in the Court of Auditors and it is the extension of the fiscal shield – established by the red-yellow Conte II government and already extended by the Draghi government – extended until June of 2024.
For Palazzo Chigi, the alternation of marked inaction with a clear stance is evidence of a politically oriented attitude. So far, the note continues, “there have never been any comments from the Commission” and this discipline “has been in force for three years with two different governments, without causing any relief, we are sure that the Commission’s line will not change. before the extension of one more year decided by a government of a different political sign”.
THE ACCUSATION
The accusation of the executive – veiled in the official note but declared in notebooks closed by several ministers – is that the commissioners are trying to politicize the confrontation with the Pnrr because they are intimidated by the implications that could occur in the next European elections in 2024. .
The same with regard to the payment of the third tranche (the 19,000 million have been blocked since March 31) and the continuous pressure in the presentation of changes to the Plan. “They set the date of August 31,” he thundered in Palazzo Chigi, “they can’t answer that. And in any case we are in the company of 21 other European countries».
In practice, the executive is going straight even though the situation – photographed by the half-yearly report that Fitto will present next week to Parliament – is not optimistic. At the moment, in fact, only 13.4% of the 191 billion euros available has been spent. In addition, in most cases to finance measures such as eco-bonuses and the fiscal bonus for industrial innovation. Initiatives that, guidelines in hand, are not precisely focused on the Pnrr. And that is why the technicians who drafted the document stress the need for “a considerable effort” to reach the spending targets.
Source : IL Messaggero
