Brussels, 08/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 8 July, the European Commission notified Italy that EU payments of €709 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Operational Programme for the region of Puglia for the programming period 2007-2013 can start next week.
The programme was interrupted in June 2014 due to identified irregularities and deficiencies in the management and control system, in particular in the audit work and public procurement tenders.
Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu said: “This is great news for Puglia and the regional economy”. She congratulated the local authorities for their efforts “which do justice to one of the best performing ERDF programmes in Southern Italy”.
Southern Italy is one of the regions in Europe that has had difficulties in absorbing European funds from the 2007-13 programme and which is currently being overseen by the “workgroup for improving implementation” (see EUROPE 11331). The Puglia region's economy is mainly based on olives and is under threat (see EUROPE 11318). Its current absorption rate is 66.8%, well below the European average of 83.3%.
Operational programme validation for the 2014-20 period is expected to take place at the end of the month, according to one European source. (Pascal Hansens)