Minimum wage, more hospital beds and more childcare centers. Government guidelines on how to use the recovery fund

Of minimum salary to tax cuts for the middle classes, to the increase in Nursing schools, of Beds in hospitals and the spread of Electronic file for patients. The National Recovery Plan launched by the Conte government to access the funds provided by the Recovery Fund European. At guidelines transmitted in these hours to Parliament, some of the measures aimed at resuscitating Italy from the Covid emergency are indicated in detail for the first time. One of the main changes refers to “the introduction of legal minimum wage“Just the day the President of the EU Commission Ursula Von der Leyen he called for all EU countries to adopt it. A sign that the governance of Pd-M5 is in perfect harmony with Brussels, where, however, the Commissioner of the Economy Paolo Gentiloni He had already stressed in recent weeks that now “is the right time” to reach a minimum wage across the continent.

The government: “There will be more debt, we need a payment plan” – The guidelines, summarized in 38 pages and 32 slides, were approved a little more than a week ago by the Interministerial Commission for European Affairs at the end of a long analysis work and now the first story he says he is ready to inform the Chambers of its content, if the parliamentarians “deem it appropriate.” They are divided into six “missions”, that is, macro-areas in which the government intends to intervene thanks to the more than 200 billion in loans and grants made available by the EU. HE spending projectshowever, they must meet “strict criteria” of eligibility for resources: “full coherence” with the strategic and macro-sectoral objectives of the PNR; “Significant positive impact” on GDP growth potential and employment; “Quantifiable, motivated and reasonable” economic, environmental and social costs and impacts; indication of synchronization and implementation methods, with intermediate and final goals; “clear identification“From the executing agency. The reason is that it is not just a long wish list. The document states that the Recovery Fund loans,” if they are not compensated with reductions in other expenses or increases in income, will contribute to increasing the public administration deficit accumulation of debt. Therefore, the Pnrr must be accompanied by a budget planning with the aim of rebalancing public finances in the medium term after the strong expansion of the deficit forecast for this year ”.

The goal of the minimum wage – In labor matters, the intention of Palazzo Chigi is “to guarantee workers in sectors with a low rate of unionization an income level linked to one decent minimum standard“, Says the document,” while avoiding contractual dumping and strengthening the negotiation in the sectors where it is weaker ”. Therefore, the majority of Pd-M5 intends to resume the path of the minimum wage already started last February, when the Minister of Labor Catalfo announced that he was close to reaching an agreement with the other forces that support the government. If confirmed, the bill that is already in Parliament’s drawers provides for the protection of the role of unions, linking the new system to collective agreements, without however renouncing to fix a “minimum” threshold below which wages cannot go (for example, as Catalfo stated, around the 70% of the median value of wages in each sector).

Health, more hospital and digital beds – As to health care, one of the most delicate sectors given the impact that the pandemic has had, the main objective is to improve hotel quality of hospitals. For example, increasing i ICU beds, which have put the national health system in such difficulty in the harshest months of the emergency, and by investing in the digitization of medical care. The idea is to promote the spread of electronic medical record and the telemedicine . “A specific investment – we read – will begin promptly in chronicity and home care to overcome the current one RSA system deficiencies“.

From fiber optics to data centers: Another hot topic is digitization from the country. The first step is the “completion of the national telecommunications network in optical fiber”Of which so much has been said in recent weeks and that sees Enel and Tim among the protagonists. The wiring of schools and universities will be essential, accompanied, again in the educational field, by the increase in nursery schools and the requalification of teachers. But there is more. The government is also considering making gods data center in the national territory and make investments in cloud. The arrival of the “Unique Digital Identity for citizens and companies” is also expected, along with the “5G development“.

Tax, VAT and excise increases already deactivated – In tax matters, the government reiterates the need to introduce a “comprehensive reform of direct taxation and indirect, aimed at designing a fair, simple and transparent tax system for citizens, which in particular reduces the tax burden on middle classes and families with children and accelerate the transition of the economic system towards greater environmental sustainability ”. It is one of the points of the guidelines indicated in the chapter “tax reform” that provides for the transfer of the burden “from people to things” and a “reduction of the tax burden together with a tax system favorable to growth”. “The government – it is also explained – has decided to deactivate all VAT and excise increases provided for by the safeguard clauses “.

“Review highway concessions” – Transport measures also appear in the long list. The starting point is one review of highway concessions “In order to guarantee greater transparency and competitiveness between operators and the correct balance between the public interest and the business interest, as well as the constant improvement of the service to the users, implementing the Resolutions of the Transport Regulatory Authority“All with a view to promoting electric cars. The motorway network, the document continues, must adapt to the progressive spread of electric vehicles, by providing columns for fast loading. Separate chapter is the completion of railway corridors designed to reduce the gap between the Center-North and the South.

Environment: more forests and less taxes for sustainable companies – One of the largest portions of the resources that arrive from Brussels, as Von der Leyen also reiterated today in Strasbourg, must be allocated to the fight against climate change. The principle on which government action is based is to foster a gradual decarbonizzazione transport and the energy transition of heavy industries, but there are some novelties. To limit hydrogeological risks, the plan provides Forest repopulation large areas of the country, as well as a real program of urban forestry. Investments are also planned in circular economy from waste and renewable sources; comprehensive management of the water cycle and above all an advantageous taxation for the sustainable business.