It is hard for Italy to shake off its (bad) history. But there is a way

In short, the Nordic countries, the self-described “virtuous” countries of the European Union, were right: to give money to Italy is like throwing it away because we don’t know how to spend it, or it is like giving it to criminals who simply steal it to buy themselves luxury goods.

The story of the 600 million that disappeared from NRRP funds (but reading the newspapers, there is already talk of investigations for other millions possibly embezzled) is all over the European press. In particular, it is in the Financial Times, the bible of world investors, who will certainly now think twice before spending money in our country.

Yes, the scam was quickly discovered; a lot of people were arrested. In short, the state is not sleeping. Yes, in Italy, there are controls, and police forces check more what is happens to public funds. Perhaps more than in other countries, leading to the discovery of many shenanigans, perhaps more than elsewhere.

However, it is still not acceptable that easy prophecies like these are always self-fulfilling. The effort made by several Italian governments to obtain these funds and to be able to spend them (which is the most difficult part and still has to be achieved) cannot be overwhelmed by the “usual Italian stories,” which weigh on our image to the point of slowing our economic growth, damaging our role globally, and making people consider us as “the usual Italians, yes, good in fashion, design, and culture, but then, in the end, always unreliable.”

Yes, the timely investigation, which seems to have nailed many crooks, must become a symbol of our ability to check and of our supervisory systems. Let us try to make sure that those who want to steal (European) citizens’ money understand that it will not be so easy to do so again in the future. It is inevitable for there to be so many temptations when there is a sea of money that, moreover, also has to be spent quickly; even the European Court of Auditors has long expressed many concerns about theft or simple errors in spending.

The Italian response to this international public ridicule can only be one: to continue to be vigilant with determination and, perhaps even more importantly, to succeed in spending the precious NRRP capital soon and well.