Good afternoon everyone, thank you for being here.

Apologies for the delay. As you know, we were busy with the Council of Ministers meeting this morning, which approved measures that regard you. The meeting went on for quite a while, but we hope we have done our job to the best of our ability. 

I can only start by saying thank you to President [of the Emilia Romagna Region] Bonaccini and thanks to all the trade associations and trade unions that have come here this morning to represent the local area’s needs. First of all, I would like to tell you about the measures approved by the Council of Ministers this morning, which we believe provide initial, important responses for the areas that have been hit by the flooding in Emilia Romagna.

This morning, we approved two measures regarding this issue: a Civil Protection Department decree that extends the state of emergency to all Municipalities that have been hit by the second wave of flooding and were not covered by the first decree, with the provision that the state of emergency may also be extended to include the Municipalities affected in the Marche and Tuscany regions once the relative appraisal has been completed, although these require another procedure; and, a decree law with the initial measures we consider to be urgent.

The decree law is very substantial and includes many measures; I shall go over the main ones with you. Palazzo Chigi staff are here with us, as are the two Vice-Presidents of the Council of Ministers and the Ministers involved, who are ready to provide you with further clarifications. 

What does the decree law provide for? It of course provides for a postponement of deadlines for tax and social security obligations and payments until 31 August, with a resumption of payments up to 20 November.

It provides for a deferral of mortgage payments by Municipalities and provincial authorities to Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. With regard to utilities, a payment suspension by ARERA [Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment] had already been decided, but there is now a regulation reinforcing this provision regarding ARERA. With regard to mortgages, there is no need for a regulation because the existing Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and ABI [Italian Banking Association] on the suspension of mortgage payments in the event of disasters applies in this case.

With regard to justice, we have provided for the adjournment of civil and criminal proceedings if one of the parties or the defence lawyer resides in an area that has been hit, and, as far as administrative proceedings are concerned, the postponement of deadlines for rulings in administrative, accounting, military and tax cases, until 31 August.
With regard to bureaucracy, all deadlines for administrative procedures have been postponed, including those for public recruitment processes.

The decree includes a provision that allows public sector employees in the affected areas to get paid even if they are physically unable to work. 

With regard to schools, there is a EUR 20 million fund for educational continuity and we have given the Education Minister the power, by means of an order, to work with a certain degree of flexibility regarding the completion of high school leaving exams in particular, according to the needs of the school institutions involved. 

The University Minister has also provided for the possibility for teaching and exams to be carried out remotely. There is a solidarity fund worth EUR 3.5 million for lecturers at the universities affected and for initial recovery work. In addition, we are also working to buy computers to be made available, if necessary, to students having to work via distance learning who do not have one of their own.

With regard to work, we have provided for an exceptional ‘cassa integrazione’ [fund to supplement wages] for all employees, for up to 90 days. In total, this measure is covered for up to EUR 580 million, and Minister [of Labour and Social Policies] Calderone will explain the specific details. We have also provided for a one-off payment of EUR 3 thousand for self-employed people who have been forced to stop working. This measure is covered for up to EUR 300 million. 

We have provided for a strengthening of access to the guarantee fund for small and medium-sized enterprises, with a provision allowing for the guarantee to be increased even up to 100%. Coverage for the strengthening of the fund, dedicated entirely to small and medium-sized enterprises in the affected areas, amounts to EUR 110 million and regards the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy.  

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided for non-repayable grants for flood-damaged export companies, using the ‘SIMEST’ fund, with an additional EUR 300 million in coverage. Another initiative by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the creation of a reserved share, worth EUR 400 million, of the ‘394/81 fund’, dedicated to issuing soft loans, with non-repayable amounts of 10% - so, another EUR 400 million for these companies.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry has earmarked EUR 100 million for compensation measures for agricultural enterprises, plus another EUR 75 million from the innovation fund for the purchase of machinery and equipment for businesses that have been damaged from this point of view. 

There is then a measure that extends the sphere of responsibility of the Commissioner we had appointed to deal with the drought emergency (a bizarre transition, with the Commissioner for the drought emergency now also dealing with flooding, but this is the climate situation we find ourselves in), for the verification and monitoring of water drainage works, to try and proceed as quickly as possible from this point of view. 

The Ministry of Health has made EUR 8 million available for initial recovery measures for healthcare facilities and we have provided for the recognition of training credits for healthcare workers in the Municipalities affected. 

We are refinancing the national emergency fund with EUR 200 million that will be allocated in full to this emergency. We have also provided for a number of ways to cover other measures that will obviously be necessary; the Ministry of Economy and Finance has made some proposals, such as proceeds from the sale of vehicles confiscated by the Customs Agency. We have also authorised extraordinary Lotto and SuperEnalotto [lottery] draws, also completely dedicated to the emergency.

Minister of Culture Sangiuliano has provided for a temporary € 1 increase in the price of entry tickets for museums: the proceeds generated by this measure will be used to secure and restore cultural assets affected by the flooding. 

The Ministry of Tourism has a fund with an additional EUR 10 million for compensation for the tourism businesses affected.

The Minister for Sport is making EUR 5 million available for maintenance work on sporting infrastructure. 

Measures are also to be introduced, which are in the process of being fully finalised, to support people with disabilities who, as always in such cases, are among the worst hit.

In order to ensure simplification, which is necessary at this stage, the Transport Minister proposed bringing forward the Procurement Code rules, immediately allowing for the emergency procedure of up to EUR 500 thousand for the areas affected.

These are the main measures we have approved, with this initial response involving an allocation of over EUR 2 billion for the flood-affected areas. 

I think it is right to thank all members of the Government, all the Ministers involved, starting with Minister [for Civil Protection and Marine Policies] Musumeci, who is responsible for following the most acute phase of the emergency. I believe I can say that, in Italy’s current position, finding EUR 2 billion in just a few days is not an easy thing to do, so I think that credit is due to the entire Government for having dedicated itself to this emergency with the utmost focus, readiness and engagement.

We of course know that we are talking about an emergency, that there will be a reconstruction phase, for which we are still not able to quantify the overall requirements and damages, but I’m not sure that emergency measures worth EUR 2 billion have ever been seen in the past. I therefore wish to once again thank the entire Government and I hope that you are also satisfied with this work.

I shall stop here, because we are of course here to go over specific details, as necessary, but we are also here to listen to your point of view about what the needs are, or if there are further urgent measures to be taken into consideration.

Thank you again and I shall now pass the floor to President Bonaccini.

[Courtesy translation]