Tour de force vaccination, EU funds and relaunch: the Draghi government turns one year old
A year ago the third executive of the XVIII legislature, the 67th of the Republic, was born
"I swear to be loyal to the Republic, to loyally observe its Constitution and laws and to exercise my functions in the exclusive interest of the Nation".
A year ago, exactly on February 13, 2021, the Draghi government, the sixty-seventh executive of the Italian Republic and the third of the XVIII legislature, swore.
A government "of high profile and which should not identify with any political formula", defined the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, explaining the choice with which he intended to end a crisis that had arisen twenty days earlier. A government of national unity (which obtained 262 votes in favor in the Senate and 535 in the Chamber) that could agree a very large majority from the left up to Salvini's League. An executive "all in", with the exception of Fratelli D'Italia, to overcome the dramatic crisis of the Covid pandemic and help the country restart by defining projects, many of which are infrastructural, financed with the European Recovery Plan.
THE CRISIS - After tensions lasting weeks, the crisis officially started on January 13 when Matteo Renzi announced the withdrawal of the members of the executive of Italia Viva. The situation worsened in a few days: on 25 January the then Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, noting that the report on the prescription of the Minister of Justice Alfonso Bonafede would never be able to obtain the necessary votes for approval in the Senate, announced his resignation for the next day. After a few days of consultations, on February 2 Mattarella officially appointed Draghi to form the new government.
THE PANDEMIC - One of Draghi's first moves was to entrust, on March 1st, the role of extraordinary commissioner for the implementation and coordination of the measures to contain and combat the Covid-19 emergency to the general of the army corps Francesco Paolo Figliuolo. A role based on the priority "mission" of launching and completing the national coronavirus vaccination campaign. A real tour de force that has managed to vaccinate, at least with a first dose, more than 90% of the under-12 population. 88% of Italians have completed the vaccination cycle, also thanks to progressive moves culminating in the green pass and the compulsory vaccination for over 50s.
PNRR - The second major objective for Draghi was the management of the total over 220 billion made available by the EU for well-defined projects under the PNRR, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The first 51 objectives foreseen in 2021 have already been reached and a first tranche of 24 billion (which will add to the 24 already received) has been unblocked by the European Union. But in 2022, one hundred objectives will be achieved. Only after verification will be released another 45 billion.
FOREIGN POLICY - In the eyes of Europe Draghi is the man who cannot be ignored, "the lender of last resort" of Italian institutional capital. Its presence at the top of the state - it is agreed in the EU, in many European capitals and in national political and economic circles - is an element of stability and guarantee for the implementation of the Recovery Plan. As the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “When he speaks, we take notes”.
(Unioneonline / D)
