The EU Structural Funds and the implementation of Operational Programmes (2014)

The focus of regional policy and the allocation of European funds has inevitably shifted eastwards, to the disadvantage of the southern European regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Italy is one of the biggest contributors to the EU budget, but also one of its main beneficiaries, at least in absolute terms, especially as regards the southern regions of the peninsula. And yet, our Country struggles to spend the resources made available.
The possibility of having to renounce a good part of the resources committed by Brussels and not spent, either because of bureaucratic inefficiencies or because of the failure to submit projects deemed appropriate, is now almost a certainty. There is a deadline for spending the money allocated for the 2007-2013 period: 31 December 2015. After that date, the resources allocated by the EU will be automatically lost.