Italy’s national recovery and resilience plan: context, content and challenges

ABSTRACT The key policy instrument established by the European Union (E.U.) to address the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is the “Next Generation E.U.” (N.G.E.U.) Recovery Fund –– a ground-breaking initiative which has been compared to the post-WWII Marshall Plan. N.G.E.U. provides grants and loans to E.U. member states to rebuild their economies and enhance their resilience beyond the health crisis. With €191.5 billion of grants and loans, Italy is the prime beneficiary of N.G.E.U. money, absorbing by itself almost one third of the entire Recovery Fund’s financial envelope. In order to program how to use this sizable amount of resources the Italian Government led by Mario Draghi has adopted in spring 2021, as required by E.U. legislation, a National Recovery & Resilience Plan (N.R.R.P.). The purpose of this article is to outline the context, content and challenges of Italy’s N.R.R.P. To this end, the article surveys the formation of the Draghi Government in February 2021, explores the main features of the N.R.R.P., and discusses challenges that Italy faces in implementing the N.R.R.P. In particular, the article reviews the resignation of the Draghi Government in July 2022, and reflects on what this will entail for the future of the N.R.R.P., given incoming parliamentary elections. By providing the first English-language academic analysis of Italy’s N.R.R.P., the article fills a gap in the literature. At the same time, by undertaking a case study of the most relevant N.R.R.P. among all E.U.27 member states, the article provides insight to assess the success of N.G.E.U.