Brussels – Italy, a country scraping by on EU funds, and not a small amount at that. This is how the country appears from the outside, as described in the European Commission staff working document attached to the recently published country-specific recommendations. A substantial 150-page document highlighting the many structural weaknesses of a national system that has become anti-systemic, totally dysfunctional in its own right. From healthcare to education, from employment to taxation, Italy has chosen not to grow. One figure stands out above all others: “The Italian tax system encourages businesses to remain small and family-run,” the report stresses. This means that growth is not being supported. Which leads to “negative implications for innovation and productivity.“
Speaking of productivity: this “has been in decline since the early 2000s”. Over the past quarter of a century, Brussels’ experts note, “productivity growth in Italy has remained weak, partly due to the gap between the southern and northern regions.” A passage that confirms the country is not making the grade, and indeed is increasingly struggling. This is despite the resources made available by the European Union. “EU financial instruments provide considerable support to Italy.” To summarise: from 2000 to the date (i.e., 2027, the end of the current programme cycle), Italy has received a total of 161.1 billion euros from Brussels (specifically: 27.4 billion euros in 2000-2006; 28,8 billion euros 2007-2013; 62.7 billion euros in 2014-2020; and 42.7 billion euros in 2021–2027).
Healthcare, education, young people, and employment: Italy’s failure to invest
What has become of all this money? It certainly hasn’t improved the healthcare sector. “access to healthcare in Italy has deteriorated in recent years,” the European Commission experts note, including in the shortcoming list “ever-lengthening waiting lists for public health services and out-of-pocket costs for patients that significantly exceed the EU average (23.7 per cent of total expenditure, compared to 14.9 per cent in the EU), significant regional disparities in the provision of healthcare, as well as shortages of healthcare staff.” There is also criticism of the conditions in which staff are forced to work: in Italy, it is “necessary to improve the attractiveness of key professions, in particular nurses, general practitioners, and A&E doctors, through better working conditions, career incentives, safety guarantees, legal protections, and higher-quality specialist training courses.”
The country also has a problem with its talent: it fails to nurture, utilise, or reward it. The result: “The brain drain continues.” In 2024, 188,000 skilled people left Italy, and in 2025 another 144,000. Among them, it is noted, “many young, highly skilled Italians are seeking better opportunities abroad.” Those who remain are struggling, because the education system is failing on many fronts; indeed, it is noted that “further efforts are needed to tackle the system’s weak and uneven school outcomes and to improve graduates’ employability.” A degree, therefore, is of little use to graduates, and the brain drain is a direct consequence. In general, “learning outcomes have not returned to pre-pandemic levels and remain fragile“. Here too, the report highlights the issue of Southern Italy: “In the South, 46 per cent of students do not reach the basic proficiency level, and disadvantaged students are about three times more likely to achieve lower results than their more advantaged peers.”
The EU has made its contribution and continues to do so. Despite Euroscepticism, Europe has in recent years contributed more than one‑tenth of its gross national product. The 194.4 billion euros made available through the Recovery Fund to finance the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) corresponds to 9.13 per cent of national GDP. Meanwhile, cohesion funding for 2021–2017 amounts to 1.9 per cent of GDP in 2024. If anyone is wondering what the EU does for Italy, the answer lies in these figures, and in the 161.8 billion euros in cohesion funds over a quarter of a century.
The real question is: what is Italy doing for itself? Very little. This is illustrated by the problem with the national water network: “Water losses remain a significant problem,” the European Commission’s report states. Water losses range from 33.6 per cent of the total volume supplied in the north-eastern regions of Italy to 49.4 per cent in the south and on the islands. Between a third and half of what is pumped does not reach its destination. Despite the billions received from Europe.
Finally, Italy has still not made its territory safe. The country is described as “highly vulnerable to hydrogeological risks.” If the European Commission has put this in writing, it means that Italy has not yet made its territory safe. So where do the many billions of euros from Europe end up? Certainly not on tackling poverty, given that “social services for the most vulnerable groups are hampered by underfunding and a lack of measurable targets.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
