Cohesiebeleid 2007-2013: Commissie keurt strategie Italië goed (en)

Italy has agreed the priorities of its cohesion investment strategy with the European Commission for 2007-2013. In their National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), the Italian authorities describe how they plan to invest EU funding of € 28.8 billion over seven years in line with the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs.

" I congratulate the Italian authorities on achieving this agreement, and I hope we can soon approve some of the operational programmes that flow from it. I am particularly impressed at Italy's commitment to allocating a significant share of resources to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. This is very important, as energy is one of the key challenges Europe will face in the near future." said Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy.

Commissioner Spidla said: " Italy's strategy is committed to promoting investment in human resources. This will help more people to improve their skills and find better jobs. That aim is at the heart of the European reform agenda. With the priorities chosen by Italy, it will be easier for workers to find a job and improve their skills. The strategy will also promote social inclusion."

The strategic document is the framework for investment worth € 28.8 billion in Italy over the 2007-2013 programming period. Four main priorities have been defined: developing knowledge circuits; increasing living standards, security and social inclusion; fostering business clusters, services and competition; internationalising and modernising the economy.

This includes for instance the improvement of quality of life and territorial attractiveness (enhancement of security conditions for people and investors); the diversification of tourism and the extension of the tourist season; a priority on Trans-European Network corridors; and a special mention for financial engineering schemes for small and medium-sized enterprises. The framework also highlights the importance of cohesion policy in supporting capacity-building in Italy's public administration.

The objectives of the NSRF are to be achieved through operational programmes:

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  19 under the "Convergence" objective, including "phasing-out" for the region Basilicata (which will benefit from transitional support);
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  33 under the "Regional competitiveness and employment" objective;
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  4 under the "European territorial co-operation" Objective.

The Convergence regions (Campania, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily and Basilicata) are the main beneficiaries of the Italian framework. The Regional competitiveness and employment objective includes a heterogeneous set of regions, ranking from some Northern regions showing a pro-capita GDP much higher than the EU average, and the Southern regions which no longer come under the Convergence objective but still have a pro-capita GDP significantly below the EU average.

Note for editors

Each Member State prepares a National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), coherent with the Community Strategic Guidelines for 2007-2013, in the course of an ongoing dialogue with the Commission. That document defines the strategy chosen by the State and proposes a list of Operational Programmes (OPs) that it plans to implement. Negotiations between Italian authorities and the European Commission are well-advanced. All OPs should be approved before the end of 2007. As of today, 17 Member states have had their NSRFs officially adopted by the Commission.

The Lisbon Agenda is an action and development plan of reforms set at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000. The reforms are intended to implement the EU's strategic goal of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth, with more, better jobs and greater social cohesion. Progress is regularly reviewed at Spring European Councils.