Flooding in Emilia Romagna and Marche regions: meeting held at Palazzo Chigi on progress of reconstruction work

A meeting was held at Palazzo Chigi this morning to review the progress of reconstruction work following the flooding that hit the Emilia Romagna and Marche regions in May.
The meeting was attended by Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Alfredo Mantovano, Minister of Labour and Social Policies Marina Elvira Calderone, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Galeazzo Bignami, Commissioner for reconstruction General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, Head of the Civil Protection Department Fabrizio Curcio, Commissioner for the reconstruction of central Italy Guido Castelli, Chief Executive Officer of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Dario Scannapieco, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Carlo Deodato and the Head of Legislative Office Coordination at the Ministry of Economy of Finance, Daria Perrotta.

It emerged during the meeting that Commissioner Figliuolo’s unit has already committed EUR 289 million for measures to deal with and overcome the emergency. The necessary decrees have also been drawn up to carry out work, over the course of 2023, to reconstruct and safeguard the local area worth a total of EUR 449 million, for the securing of waterways, restoration of the road network and other work needed on public buildings and infrastructure.

The overall resources available to the Commissioner’s unit to provide relief to households and businesses have been increased by approximately EUR 170 million, now exceeding EUR 600 million in total.

Considering that municipalities have only filed a small number of reimbursement requests for emergency works, amounting to EUR 500,000 to date, and that local authorities have asked for more time to indicate the works projects to be included in the ‘special plans’, which should have been approved within 90 days according to the provisions of the decree-law approved for the emergency (no. 61/2023), it was decided to propose an extension of said deadline to a total of eight months, until March 2024.  In order to support the technical and administrative work of municipalities suffering a shortage of specialised personnel, the quickest ways to increase staffing levels will also be assessed very soon, involving the commissioner’s unit for reconstruction work following the 2012 earthquake and checking the rankings from previous recruitment processes.
Lastly, in order to simplify procedures for private-sector reconstruction, regulations will be approved that will allow registered professionals to certify the extent of flood damage, thereby avoiding a subsequent inspection by the municipality, without prejudice to the possibility for spot checks to be carried out.