At the intersection of Via Trieste and Via Gaspare Gozzi, in the Veneto city of Padua (Italy), one of the countless manifestations of a gigantic design is taking place. Along a torn roadway covered with metal rods and rubble, with their backs to two imposing excavators, workers from a subcontracting company check that the route of the future rails of a new tram line is straight. , under the watchful eye of the site manager, who keeps his tight deadlines in mind.
“Everything must be finished before 2026, it will happen very, very quickly,” says Johnny Viel, the manager of the construction company Ferrari Ferruccio, which obtained the tender from the municipality of Padua. And for good reason: the extension of the municipality’s transport network is one of around 230,000 projects of all kinds financed as part of the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which will expire in 2026.
A major national cause of cyclopean dimensions, discussed daily in its multiple aspects by the national press and regional media, the Italian section of the major European recovery plan “Next Generation EU”, put in place after the Covid-19 pandemic, represents nearly 200 billion euros in loans and grants. It is the largest share granted to a State of the European Union out of the 800 billion euros planned at community level.
Its initial formula, finalized under the government of Mario Draghi (2021-2022), was reformed under the aegis of the president of the Italian council, Giorgia Meloni, at the cost of long negotiations with Brussels, but its objective remains the same: to unlock a structurally weak Italian growth due to major infrastructure projects, modernization of administrations and reforms.
With 644 million euros in resources, the municipality of Padua benefits from the highest amount of funding per inhabitant in Italy. In addition to new means of transport, they must finance projects to modernize administrative services, sports infrastructure, nurseries, canteens, urban requalification projects, cycle paths and the improvement of public lighting.
The city also serves as a national model for the organization of resource allocation. It is in Padua, in short, that the Italian recovery plan best keeps its promises. “At our scale, the PNRR will truly help transform the city. We have never seen such an investment effort since the Second World War”boasts Lorenzo Minganti, the general director of the municipality, who also welcomes the new skills acquired by his administration thanks to the implementation of the plan.
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