This note is developed by the OECD Trento Centre for Local Development of the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE).
Italian regional SME policy responses
OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Abstract
The note provides a preliminary inventory of the policy responses adopted by the Italian regions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian economy provides background information on the economic repercussions on the Italian economy, whereas the SME policies responses of the Italian government at a glance summarises the main SME policy responses adopted by the central government. The role of the regions within the Italian institutional setting, especially in economic development issues, is at the core of the An overview of the Italian regional setting and the role of European Structural and Investment Funds, which also highlights the importance of European Structural and Investment Funds in financing regional SME policies and tackling territorial imbalances. The Italian regions on the frontline of the policy response provides an in-depth analysis of regional SME policy responses, providing a granular classification according to their objectives, the presence of a sectoral focus and other characteristics, and underlines their connections with the national and EU policy frameworks. This section also features a timeline of the measures adopted, an analysis of their territorial distribution and an estimate of the financial resources allocated. The Summary of the main findings provides a summary of the main findings. Finally, an overview of regional socio-economic indicators is given in Basic socio-economic indicators on Italian regions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Full list of regional SME policies contains an exhaustive and detailed list of SME policy responses, broken down by region.
The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian economy
The first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy were confirmed on 31 January 2020. In the following weeks, eleven municipalities in northern Italy were identified as the centres of the two main Italian clusters, located in Lombardy and Veneto respectively, and placed under quarantine. The majority of positive cases in the other regions trace back to these two clusters. On 8 March 2020, a Decree of the President of the Council of Minister expanded the quarantine to all of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces, and on the following day to all of Italy, placing more than 60 million people in quarantine (Gazzetta Ufficiale, 2020[1])
The pandemic rapidly expanded across northern Italy, and then southwards across the whole country although impacts at the local level are much differentiated (Chapter 3). On 22 April 2020, Italy was the third country in the world by the number of reported COVID-19 infection cases, and the second by the number of deaths among the infected patients (Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), 2020[2]).
An early March survey of micro and small firms in Italy showed that 72% of the 6 000 firms were directly affected by the situation because of a drop in demand, problems along the supply chain, and/or transport/logistics. One third of respondents estimated a decrease in revenues above 15%, and an additional 18% of 5-15%. The most affected firms were those in transport (98.9%) due to the demand downfall, then tourism (89.9%), fashion (79.9%), and agro-food (77.7%) (CNA, 2020[3]).
Over the weeks, the progressive tightening of containment measures affected increasingly larger segments of the Italian economy. In particular, with the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers (DPCM) of 11 March 2020, all retail trade businesses were closed, with the exception of those related to the sale of food and other basic necessities (Gazzetta Ufficiale, 2020[4]). The Ministerial Decree of 25 March 2020 imposed suspension of production in all sectors other than those connected to the agro-food chain, provision of public utilities and few essential services (Gazzetta Ufficiale, 2020[5]).
After the issue of the latter decree, the research centre of the national association of labour consultants (Fondazione Studi Consulenti del Lavoro) estimated the number of temporarily unemployed workers at 7.8 million. More in detail, 6 out of 10 affected workers (59.6%) related to manufacturing, while the ban would affect just over a quarter of workers in services (26.7%). Overall, out of 100 workers affected by the decree, 56 resided in the North (20.6% in Lombardy), 20 in the Centre and 24 in the South of Italy. The Marche region, which has a strong manufacturing vocation, is by far the region with the highest share of affected workers: 43%, compared to the Italian average of 34.8%, followed by Veneto (39.8%), Piedmont (37.8%), Lombardy (37.5%), to which the effect of regional lockdown ordinances should be added, and Emilia Romagna (37.4%) (Fondazione Studi Consulenti del Lavoro, 2020[6]).
According to estimates published by ISTAT on 16 April 2020 – following a further Prime Ministerial Decree which, with the exception of the first openings of bookshops and a few other sectors, extended the restrictive measures until 3 May 2020 – the measures suspending or reducing production activity would affect 51.3% of businesses and 42.9% of employees (Istat, 2020[7]).
Between 12 and 13 March, the stock market index fell by 12%, while the 10-year sovereign bond yields climbed by 60 basis points to 1.8%. On 16 March, the yields of Italian sovereign bond yields had kept rising, and the 10-year yield breached the 2% threshold (the spread on the 10-year bunds rose to close to 260 basis points) (Wikipedia, 2020[8]).
According to forecasts published by Italy's leading economic newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore on 22 March 2020, there are two main possible future scenarios on the impact of COVID-19 on Italian enterprises. In the first case, should the emergency end at the beginning of May and should the recovery begin next year, enterprises would lose EUR 275 billion between 2020 and 2021. In the second and more pessimistic scenario, should the emergency end by December, the loss would amount to EUR 641 billion (Il sole 24 ORE, 2020[9]).Other forecasts add that, should the situation not improve by the end of the year, one out of ten firms would risk to shut down (Corriere della Sera, 2020[10]).
According to estimates published by Statista on 26 March 2020, the Italian GDP would drop by 3% by the end of the first quarter of 2020. In the second quarter, the drop would reach 5% (Statista, 2020[11]).
In a note published on 27 March 2020, the OECD estimated a potential drop in national GDP by more than 25%, and a potential reduction in private consumption induced by social distancing measures by more than 35% (OECD, 2020[12]).
The regional dimension is crucial to any attempt to forecast economic repercussions of the current crisis, given its diversified effects across territories and the marked differences in economic conditions across Italy. Lombardy and Veneto alone, respectively the first and third most affected regions in terms of casualties to date, account for 31% of the Italian GDP. Consequently, a 10% decrease in their GDP would imply a 3% decrease in the whole economy (Corriere della Sera, 2020[10]).
Several studies analyse the repercussions of the emergency from a regional perspective. The joint research centre of the Chambers of Commerce of Veneto carried out a survey to monitor the economic impact of the pandemic on local manufacturing companies. They reported a sharp drop in sales, especially the textiles and electrical and industrial machinery industry (Veneto, 2020[13]).The repercussions on the tourism sector in Veneto will be felt acutely, as is the top national destination for tourist arrivals (Veneto, 2020[14]).
According to the Labour Market Observatory of the autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen, social distancing policies to contain the pandemic have radically and quickly changed the situation of the South Tyrolean labour market, particularly in the tourism sector. The 2020 winter season ended about a month before the natural deadline, leading to the termination of 17 751 employment contracts within a week. While there were still 21 000 people employed in the hotel sector at the end of February 2020, by 31 March this figure had fallen to just over 7 000. There has also been a significant drop in the catering sector: the number of people employed in this industry has fallen from 11 000 to 7 000 (Amministrazione Provincia Bolzano, 2020[15]).
The above facts speak to one salient truth: cooperation between countries and regions is needed now more than ever. Before analysing in depth the policies adopted by Italian regions, this note provides background information on the main measures taken by the national government, as well as on the Italian institutional setting. Multi-level governance is a crucial aspect in the current context, in Italy and in other countries.
The OECD offers an international platform to provide policy makers across countries and regions with sound analytical support and foster the exchange of practices and mutual learning.
This case study provides insight into the policy responses adopted by the Italian regions, and the evidence stemming from this work can be useful for other countries not yet as severely affected.
SME policies responses of the Italian government at a glance
Since the beginning of March 2020, the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) has been gathering the national policy responses towards SMEs in the context of the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
The note discusses the channels – both on the supply (reduction in the supply of labour, interruption of the supply chains) and the demand side (drop in spending and consumption) – by which SMEs are likely to be affected by the current coronavirus pandemic. It also reports on early evidence or estimations about impact and provides a preliminary inventory of country responses to foster SME resilience. Given the rapid pace of developments, the overview of country responses is not comprehensive and includes in some cases intended policy responses that are still work in progress, or simply at the stage of public announcements. The overview will be updated periodically (OECD, 2020[16]).
In all OECD countries, SMEs account for the vast majority of companies, value added and force (OECD, 2019[17]). In some regions and sectors that have been particularly affected by the situation, the prevalence of SMEs is even higher. Compared to larger companies, SMEs may have less resilience and flexibility in dealing with the costs these shocks entail. In addition, given the fewer resources of SMEs and existing obstacles in accessing capital, the period over which SMEs can survive the shock may be more limited than among larger firms. As the OECD Interim Outlook signals, there is a risk that otherwise solvent firms, particularly SMEs, could go bankrupt while containment measures are in force (OECD, 2020[18]).
The relative importance of SMEs is even higher in Italy, where they generate 66.9% of the overall value added in the national “non-financial business economy”, exceeding the EU average of 56.4%. The share of employment generated by SMEs is also greater, at 78.1%, compared to the EU average of 66.6%. Micro firms are particularly important, providing 44.9% of employment compared to the EU average of 29.7%. The observation of the policy responses adopted by the Italian government and regions should account for this (European Commission, 2019[19]).
On 16 March, the Italian government announced details of a EUR 25 billion (1.4% of GDP) bill. Decree-law no. 18 of 17 March 2020 (known as “Cura Italia”), which entered into force on the same day, consists of an extensive (127 articles) package of measures aimed at strengthening the healthcare system and providing economic support to households, workers and businesses (Gazzetta Ufficiale, 2020[20]). Policy responses addressing employees and self-employed include:
Parents with children younger than 12, who are employed in the private sectors or self-employed, can benefit from a parental leave for a continuous or split period up to 15 days, with an allowance equal to 50% of their salary. The age limit does not apply in the case of children with disabilities.
In addition, private sector dependent parents with minor children between 12 and 16 years of age have the right to unpaid leave during the school closing period, with a prohibition on dismissal and right to job retention.
As an alternative to leave, parents can opt for a voucher of EUR 600 (EUR 1 000 if they work in the health sector) for costs incurred to pay a babysitter.
Deferral of payments for social security and welfare contributions for domestic workers.
EUR 100 tax-free bonus for employees who continue working in their workplace in March 2020, provided that their annual income is below EUR 40 000.
Temporary suspension of mortgage payments for first-time homebuyers, including self-employed who have lost more than one-third of their turnover during the last quarter.
A fund for last resort income support (appropriation of EUR 300 million for 2020) is established for employees and self-employed workers who ceased, reduced or suspended their employment relationship or business due to the pandemic.
Self-employed workers (spanning from freelance professionals to collaborators with contractual forms other than employment) will receive a tax-free one-time allowance of EUR 600 for March 2020.
The same type of benefit will be provided to seasonal workers and workers operating in the most affected sectors, such as tourism, agriculture and entertainment.
Deadlines for applications to get unemployment benefits have been extended to make it easier for employees and collaborators (as defined above). Special provisions apply to workers in agriculture.
Self-employed, freelance professionals and businesses with revenues lower than EUR 2 million can defer tax payments, including annual/monthly VAT and social security and insurance. Payments are deferred to 31 May and they can be paid in a single solution or in up to five monthly instalments.
A second set of measures provided by the 17 March package aim to support businesses. In most cases, policies aims specifically at SMEs. They include:
Micro-enterprises and SMEs of all types, including freelancers and sole proprietorships, can benefit from a moratorium on a total volume of loans estimated at around EUR 220 billion. Current account credit lines, loans for advances on securities, short-term loan maturities and instalments of loans due are frozen until 30 September 2020. Part of these is made up of sums already disbursed which should have been repaid, representing in practice a new loan from the bank until 30 September 2020, whereas the other part is made up of new financing which the company can obtain by using the credit line which is frozen. Banks or other lending institutions can activate a public guarantee covering 33% of the lent amount.
EUR 1.5 billion increase in the appropriation of the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs (Italy’s main national credit guarantee facility), including for the purpose of renegotiating existing loans. Adding together existing and new loans, the objective is to allow guarantees for more than EUR 100 billion in total financing to businesses from the National Guarantee Fund.
In addition to increasing the financial endowment of the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs, standard regulations on the functioning of the Fund have been temporarily modified as follows:
Ceilings for guarantees to be provided for a single company have been raised from EUR 2.5 million to EUR 5 million;
Guarantees are provided for free, fees otherwise due to the fund are suspended;
Debt rescheduling operations are eligible for the public guarantee;
Automatic extension of the guarantee in the event of a moratorium or suspension of funding because of the coronavirus emergency, and;
Extension to private entities of the faculty to contribute to increasing the endowment of the fund (previously limited to banks, regions and other public bodies);
Incentive for banking and industrial companies to sell their substandard or impaired loans by converting their Deferred Tax Assets into Tax Credits. The intervention frees up new liquid resources for companies and allows banks to grant new credit for an estimated amount of up to EUR 10 billion.
EUR 200 million in measures to support the troubled airline, Alitalia, and Air Italy.
Redundancies for “justified objective reasons" banned for the next two months.
Redundancy fund boosted by EUR 5 billion to provide nine weeks’ salary for workers not covered by other social safety nets. Administrative processes are simplified.
Confindustria, a major business association at national level, commented on the “Cura Italia” decree-law positively. Nevertheless, on 20 March 2020 it published a note titled "Let's face the emergency for the protection of employment – Proposals for an immediate reaction", containing a package of additional proposals including modifications to the European and national regulatory framework and urgent interventions for the financial support of all companies (Confindustria, 2020[21]).
On 8 April 2020, the Council of Ministers approved the so-called "Liquidity Decree", with a focus on firms’ access to credit (Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, 2020[22]):
State guarantees through SACE: public guarantees amounting to EUR 200 billion will be granted by SACE (a public company specialising in the export insurance-financing sector) on bank loans to companies of all sizes. The guarantee will cover between 70% and 90% of the amount financed, depending on the size of the company, and is subject to a number of conditions such as no dividends paid by the beneficiary company for the following twelve months. Specifically, Italian companies with less than 5 000 employees and a turnover of less than EUR 1.5 billion are eligible for a 90% loan coverage and a simplified procedure of access to the guarantee. The coverage falls to 80% for companies with more than 5 000 employees and a turnover over EUR 1.5 billion but less than EUR 5 billion, and to 70% for companies with a turnover of more than EUR 5 billion. The amount of the guarantee may not exceed 25% of the turnover in 2019 or twice the personnel costs incurred by the company. EUR 30 billion are reserved for SMEs, including sole proprietorships and freelancers, and access to the guarantee issued by SACE will be subject to the condition that businesses have exhausted their capacity to use the credit issued by the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs.
Enhancement of the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs: new loans for a maximum duration of 6 years to SMEs and freelancers, for a maximum amount of EUR 25 000 and in any case not exceeding 25% of the beneficiary's income, are guaranteed by the Fund with 100% coverage and without a credit merit evaluation. The loan payments start no earlier than 18 months after the disbursement of the loan. The Fund may now also grant guarantees free of charge up to a maximum amount of EUR 5 million to enterprises with fewer than 499 employees. The guarantee from the Fund itself is 90% of the amount. Finally, for enterprises with revenue of up to EUR 3.2 million, the 90% guarantee granted by the Fund may be combined with another guarantee from a third party to obtain loans with a 100% coverage on loans of up to EUR 800 000 (but not exceeding 25% of the beneficiary's revenue).
Export support: the decree-law also introduces a co-insurance system under which 90% of the commitments deriving from SACE's insurance activity are assumed by the State and the remaining 10% by the company itself, thus freeing up to a further EUR 200 billion of resources to be allocated to the strengthening of exports. The aim is to enable SACE to meet the growing demand to insure operations deemed to be of strategic interest to the national economy, which the company would otherwise not have the financial capacity to cover.
The observation of regional SME policies offers a full picture of Italy’s response, beyond central government. Within the Italian decentralised institutional setting, regions play a major role in economic development matters and SME policies.
An overview of the Italian regional setting and the role of European Structural and Investment Funds
A regional model in constant evolution
Italy has a three-tier system of subnational governments: regions, provinces and municipalities. Italy is often referred to as a “regionalised country”, particularly since the constitutional reform of 2001 and a 2009 law on “fiscal federalism” granted greater autonomy to its regions. Furthermore, Italy’s decentralised system is markedly asymmetric, consisting of fifteen regions with ordinary statute and five regions with special statute enjoying even more legislative and financial autonomy (Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sardinia, Sicily and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol) (OECD, 2016[23]). The latter region has two provinces, each with an own special statute, and a high degree of autonomy in a number of matters, including fiscal (Regione e Province Autonome di Trento e Bolzano, 1948[24]).
Regions have played an increasingly important role since the 2001 Constitutional reform, which provided them with exclusive legislative power on any matter not expressly reserved to the central government. This implies that they have the freedom to determine policy in a wide range of fields (including healthcare, transport, social services and housing, economic development, environmental protection, culture, agriculture, education, etc.); however, some of these areas are managed jointly with central government.
The 2001 constitutional reform and law No. 42 of 2009 on fiscal federalism set a milestone for Italy in its gradual move towards decentralisation, implying a strong increase in subnational government expenditure and revenue. Subnational government tax revenue comprises both shared and own taxes, including a regional tax for corporate income (IRAP) and a surtax on personal income (IRPEF) (OECD, 2016[23]). In this context, regions can count on relatively large financial appropriations to fund businesses and provide them with fiscal incentives (Camera dei Deputati, 2015[25]). Indeed, the number of regional programmes for start-ups, SMEs – and business in general – is sizeable.1
The major role played by the European Structural and Investment Funds and their territorial distribution
In addition to their own resources, regions can count on a large set of financial tools provided by EU and national legislation to fund policies in support of SMEs. The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), together with the national Fund for Development and Cohesion (Fondo Sviluppo e Coesione) are part of a unitary planning approach to support regional development in all areas of the country and, in particular, in regions that are lagging behind. At the institutional level, the national Agency for Territorial Cohesion provides technical support to central, regional and local administrations in the implementation of regional programmes and investment projects (OECD, 2019[26]).
More specifically, ESIF are financial instruments provided by the EU, with varying degrees of intensity across regions, to support cohesion policy. Tapping national co-financing, they are a part of the EU budget and operate according to seven-year programming cycles. Within the 2014-2020 programming cycle, ESIF include the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The total ESIF financial appropriation devoted to Italy under the current programming period amounts to EUR 44.6 billion.2
The ERDF and ESF have played a prominent role in financing Italian regions’ policies aimed at mitigating the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ERDF, in particular, support programmes in the field of regional development, fostering competitiveness and investment in research and sustainable development. It is, therefore, an important source of funds for regional policies that promote investment and access to credit for SMEs. The ESF is modelled after the European Employment Strategy and focuses on social inclusion and gender-balanced access to the labour market. Its role is key to regional policies aimed at sustaining employment levels or providing social protection for unemployed workers. The EAFRD supports the European rural development policy and, to this end, finances the Rural Development Programmes carried out in all Member States and regions of the Union.3
The resources from the cohesion policy funds are allocated according to a territorial criterion that favours the most disadvantaged areas. Regions with a GDP per capita of less than 75% of the EU average are the largest beneficiaries of the funds through projects that promote their socio-economic growth and convergence. During the 2014-2020 programming period, a three-group categorisation of regions into "less developed regions", "transition regions" and "more developed regions" was adopted (European Parliament and Council, 2013[27]).
Italy’s "less developed regions" include Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania and Sicily. Abruzzo, Molise and Sardinia are classified as "transition regions", while Aosta Valley, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto, Umbria and the autonomous provinces of Bolzano/Bozen and Trento are "more developed regions".
The territorial breakdown of the 2014-2020 ESIF utilisation in Italy shows a clear predominance of the regions in the south (all ranked as less developed and transition regions), which account for 68.8% of the total (EUR 30.7 billion). Of this, EUR 18 billion come from ERDF and EUR 6.9 billion from ESF.
However, to fully grasp the actual availability of European financial resources to the Italian regions during the first phase of the COVID-19 policy response, it is necessary to take into account the regions’ existing financial commitment and expenditure. Higher rates leave less resources to be used for the anti-COVID-19 policies. Conversely, lower rates of commitment and expenditure of European funding during the last few years result in higher budget that can be reprogrammed for policies in support of SMEs.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the developed regions had committed and spent respectively 65.5% and 37.5% of the total resources obtained under the ERDF and ESF as of 31 December 2019. These indicators are 53.8% and 28.7% among transition regions, and 47.43% and 26.81% in the less advanced regions (Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, 2020[28]).
As a result, it is plausible that during the COVID-19 emergency the less developed regions could count on a larger residual financial availability of 2014-2020 ESIF compared to other Italian regions, due both to a larger initial allocation obtained under the current programming cycle and the delay in using such resources.
The new Temporary Framework for European State aid
In addition, between 13 March and 3 April 2020, the European Commission introduced until the end of the year a Temporary Framework to allow Member States to adopt economic aid measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic as an exception to the ordinary State aid rules. The Temporary Framework is based on Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which declares public aid to be compatible with the internal market as long as two conditions are met. The aid is compatible if it aims to counteract damages caused by exceptional circumstances (thus exempting such types of aid from the obligation of prior approval by the EU Commission) or to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State (subject to approval by the EU Commission in order to assess its targeted purpose, appropriateness and proportionality).
In its Communication "Coordinated economic response to the COVID-19 emergency" of 13 March 2020, the Commission set out the different options available to Member States for granting measures that can be activated in the current crisis without involvement of the Commission, including, for example, the suspension of payment of corporate taxes, VAT or social security contributions.
In its Communication of 19 March 2020, the Commission identified temporary State aid measures that are compatible with the internal market due to their purpose to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State. Such measures can be approved by the Member States after notification by the concerned Member State. Eligible measures include aid to ensure liquidity and access to finance for business activities.
The eligible types of aid and aid intensities were clarified by the subsequent Communication of 3 April 2020. According to this document, Member States are now authorised to grant up to EUR 800 000 per company in interest-free loans, loan guarantees covering 100% of the risk or provide equity. The intervention can be cumulated with other measures allowed on an ordinary basis, such as other de minimis aid, thus bringing the aid amount per business to EUR 1 million, and with other measures allowed on an extraordinary basis under the Temporary Framework. The Communication of 3 April 2020 also allowed for further public support measures, such as support for research and development and coronavirus-related production activities, deferral of tax payments and/or suspension of social security contributions, and targeted support in the form of a contribution to the wage costs of companies in most-affected sectors or regions which would otherwise have to lay off staff (European Commission, 2020[29]).
Pre-existing territorial imbalances and new risk factors
Over the last sixteen years, the economic disparities across Italian regions were on the rise (OECD, 2018[30]).By way of example, GDP per capita in the autonomous province of Bolzano-Bozen was 2.5 times higher than in Calabria in 2016.The province of Bolzano-Bozen enjoyed 0.2% productivity growth during 2000-2016, which was the highest among Italian regions but well below the OECD average of 1.1% in the same period. The prolonged growth in Bolzano-Bozen contrasts with economic contraction in other regional economies. For example, productivity growth in Molise stood at -1% per year further widening the gap, especially since 2010. Despite a slight improvement in recent years, the youth unemployment rate in Calabria is among the highest in the OECD area, with over 55% of young people unemployed. Youth unemployment rates are above 50% in Apulia, Campania and Sicily, while the Province of Bolzano-Bozen shows the lowest rate in the country (10% in 2017). In terms of unemployment overall, Italy has the highest regional disparities among OECD countries.
Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Piedmont, i.e. the regions with the highest numbers of death related to COVID-19, account for 48.2% of Italy’s GDP. Lombardy, in particular, which on 22 April 2020 reported about half of the virus-positive deaths in Italy, accounts for more than one fifth of the national GDP (22%). It also hosts 15.7% of Italy’s firms and is by far the most populated Italian region. Basic socio-economic indicators on Italian regions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic provides a brief overview of some basic socio-economic indicators on Italian regions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The differentiated effects of the current pandemic emergency and its socio-economic repercussions on Italian regions are the central theme of a recent publication by the national association for industrial development in Southern Italy (Svimez) (Svimez, 2020[31]). The report notes that the pandemic has put the highest pressure on healthcare facilities in the most developed regions, whereas the South, where healthcare system is structurally less ready to absorb a potential shock, was partially spared so far.
Overall, the lockdown had stronger impact on dependent employment4 in the North (due to a higher concentration of larger and stronger companies), while freelancers were a more affected category in the South, where employment structure is more fragmented. In addition to about 2 million irregular workers (1.2 million in the North and 800 000 in the South), there are about 800 000 unemployed people looking for their first job who are now unlikely to get employed. The first-time job seekers are mainly concentrated in the South (500 000 compared to 300 000 in the Centre-North). The 2020 quarterly profile anticipates as stronger recessionary trend in the first half of the year in the Centre-North, i.e. the epicentre of the health crisis. At the same time, the Centre-North of the country is expected to rebound faster after the end of the lockdown.
Finally, the default risks of larger companies is significantly higher in Southern Italy. In fact, the sudden and unexpected suspension of activities hit many companies from the South that have not yet recovered from the 2009 crisis. On the basis of the balance sheet data available for a sample of companies with a turnover of more than EUR 800 000, the evidence on the degree of indebtedness, operating profitability and cost of indebtedness leads to an estimate of the probability of companies from the South exiting the market as four times higher than those in the Centre-North.
Italian regions on the frontline of the policy response
The sources used for this work
This note is predominantly based on institutional sources. Where available, i.e. for 55% of the measures mapped, legal sources were used, including resolutions of the regional or provincial governments (by far the most prevalent), regional or provincial laws, ordinances of the presidents of regional or provincial governments and decrees by director generals. In the absence of direct legal sources, other communication tools available on the institutional websites of the regions were used, such as news and press releases. Another important source is the institutional website of the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, a coordinating body between the presidents of the regional governments and the autonomous provinces. In particular, a note edited by the Secretariat of the Conference of the Regions and the autonomous provinces was key to retrieval of the legal sources, otherwise significantly complicated by the great diversity that characterises the institutional websites of the Italian regions in terms of accessibility and organization of information (Conferenza delle Regioni e delle Province Autonome, 2020[32]).
Given the rapidly changing context and the “real-time”” character of this exercise, the overview of regional interventions presented in Annex B does not claim to be exhaustive but it attempts to be as complete as possible. In addition to measures that involve spending, the list includes "zero-cost" measures, i.e. with no cost for public finance (about 70% of the interventions mapped), as is typically the case for regulatory simplifications and deferral measures.
Another methodological difficulty inherent in the collection of information and its analysis is the distinction, not always clear, between political announcements and actually implemented measures. A great variation in the levels of available detail complicates systematisation in some cases. In this respect, among measures still in progress or not yet implemented, only those with sufficient level of detail, i.e. allowing to capture their fundamental features, are included. For a few regions (Calabria, Campania, Lombardy and Veneto) and autonomous provinces (Trento and Bolzano/Bozen) it was possible to fill the gaps in information by establishing direct contacts with the administrative staff of the regions or the ESIF managing authorities.
The available information does not always allow for a clear distinction between pre-existing measures and measures adopted or updated specifically in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Furthermore, identifying the timeline of measures (important for tracking financial commitments of regions in response to emergency) can be challenging in some cases, as press releases can refer to allocations already in place as "fresh resources".
The fragmentation of (legal) sources introduces yet another element of complexity in policy mapping. With the exception of a few cases – such as Abruzzo and Campania where interventions can almost exclusively be traced back to a single law or scheme – the vast majority of regions implemented a high number of individual measures, each documented separately.
A classification of regional SME policies
As of 22 April 2020, Italian regions and autonomous provinces had adopted 278 policy responses in total. Based on the aim of intervention, the measures can be grouped into six macro-areas:
1. Simplified procedures: measures aimed at streamlining administrative procedures involving SMEs – such as the deferral of deadlines for submitting applications for public funding or for reporting on investment plans subsidised through public incentives – and regulatory simplifications (including in the field of public procurement).
2. Public financing: the introduction or remodelling at more favourable conditions of any type of subsidised financing for SMEs provided by regional public institutions, such as interest-free loans, non-repayable loans, alternative finance instruments and other financial instruments.
3. Access to bank credit: this macro-area includes all interventions aimed at facilitating access to bank credit for SMEs and reducing the related costs. Typical examples are credit guarantee funds (national or regional), the reduction of interest on credit, the suspension of instalments of loans or the rescheduling of amortisation plans over longer periods.
4. Labour and welfare: policies to maintain employment levels and support temporarily unemployed workers in SMEs, such as incentives for smart working and out-of-work benefits, including regional allocations to supplement the national redundancy fund.
5. Tax relief: measures aimed at reducing or postponing the tax burden for SMEs, such as the deferral of tax deadlines, exemption from tax advances, advance payment of public contributions and the like.
6. Planning and budgeting: this category includes the establishment of multi-stakeholder task forces to consult on policy strategies, as well as regulatory provisions aimed at reprogramming and reallocating budgets to deal with the emergency.
Table 1 presents a classification of measures by the six macro-areas, specifying the number of recorded occurrences. For a more detailed description of each measure, refer to Annex B.
As follows from Table 1, simplified procedures (77 interventions), public financing (61) and access to credit (55) are more prevalent compared to measures aimed at labour and welfare (47), tax relief (20) and planning and budgeting (18). The total number of labour and welfare measures includes the 21 programmes (one for each region or autonomous province) that implement the nationally financed redundancy fund. This brings the number of “fully regional” labour and welfare programmes, which often include support to remote training and smart working, to 26.
The number of policy types that fall under each macro-area ranges from 3 (tax relief) to 9 (simplified procedures). Within all macro-areas except for planning and budgeting, only few policy types (from one to three) are most widely used. The use of the remaining types of policies is comparatively low. Nevertheless, Table 1 includes even the less frequent cases in order give visibility to rare and innovative practices.
Table 1. Recurrence of policy typologies, ranked by macro-area
Source: OECD Trento Centre, 2020
Links between regional policies and the national and European regulatory environment
Disentangling linkages between regional measures, the national policy framework and European funding and programmes is typically not at an easy task even in normal circumstances. This becomes even more complex when rapid policy responses in face of an emergency are required. Several measures are still at an announcement stage, and even when in force, legal sources are often not yet available.
Nevertheless, if observed in the context of the national policy framework described in SME policies responses of the Italian government at a glance of this work, regional responses show a high level of consistency with central government and, in at least three cases, the link is explicit:
1. The establishment or strengthening of regional special sections of the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs is a clear example of a complementary, multi-level policy. National regulations allow regions to set up and finance special sections of the Fund reserved for companies located on their territory. Regions often use European funding for this purpose. In such a way, regions use a national instrument and enhance its effects.
2. Another example is the redundancy fund set up at the national level to benefit the unemployed not covered by other forms of social protection. The "Cura Italia" Decree regulates the distribution of resources among regions, entrusting them to stipulate an institutional agreement with the social partners with the purpose of the effective disbursement of the subsidy.
3. The national “Credit Agreement” signed on 6 March 2020 by the Italian Banking Association and business associations to encourage the suspension of loan instalments by firms allows regions to join to encourage the involvement of local banks.
Beyond complementary efforts, many regional policy responses listed in Annex B appear to be similar to measures adopted at the national level, showing a fair degree of consistency between the two levels of governance. The deferral of tax deadlines and of application deadlines for public funding, the prorogation of loan repayments and other policy solutions can be found both at the national and the regional levels.
Regional measures also present numerous links with the European regulatory framework: of the 278 measures mapped, 57 include an explicit reference to ERDF or ESF Regional Operational Programmes (or a combination thereof) and, of these, 28 provide for an allocation of funds (one third of all measures involving cost for public finance). In addition, the measures mapped include 11 Rural Development Programmes financed with EAFRD resources in addition to some measures in support of fisheries, financed through the EMFF. As noted in paragraph The major role played by the European Structural and Investment Funds and their territorial distribution, delays in utilisation of European funds might have resulted in larger resource availability in less developed and transition regions for business support measures.
Most of the direct financing measures analysed in this note operate in compliance with the European de minimis Regulation and in accordance with the recent Communications by the EU Commission, which introduced a flexible Temporary Framework derogating from ordinary State aid rules until the end of the year. In particular, since aid is mainly targeted at SMEs, reference is often made to the European concept of SMEs as defined in the European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003: "The category of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is made up of enterprises with fewer than 250 employees, whose annual turnover does not exceed EUR 50 million or whose annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 43 million" (European Commission, 2003[33]).
One-fits-all vs. sectoral focus
This section classifies policies according to the presence of an explicit sectoral focus. It also lists the most common target sectors.
Policy responses with a declared sectoral focus represent 89 of the 278 items recorded (32%). Agriculture and the primary sectors (agro-food, floriculture and others) are the most frequent subject of policy assistance (35), followed by tourism (22), commerce (14), manufacturing (10) and culture (8). There are 10 measures that support investments in testing, prototyping, research and experimental development (including correlated capital goods) the in fight against the COVID-19, or in industrial reconversion to produce goods and services necessary to tackle the pandemic emergency.
The prevalence of measures inspired by a one-fits-all approach from a sectoral point of view could derive from the contingent needs that characterise the current situation. As the time factor plays a key role, measures without an explicit sectoral focus could have been preferred, because they are faster to design and implement. For example, they do not require any differentiation between admitted and excluded sectors, which is typically quite complex and burdensome from a technical point of view and delicate from a political point of view. This was evident in decree-law of 22 March 2020, when the government had to distinguish between “essential” and “non-essential” sectors. Not to mention that one-fits-all policies may raise fewer concerns among recipients in terms of their potential eligibility.
However, the prevailing absence of an explicit sectoral focus does not mean that measures will have a homogeneous impact across sectors. In fact, some sectors have been affected by the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 earlier and more severely than others, hence the need for incentives and aids is not evenly distributed. In addition, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises – which are the explicit target of most of the reported measures – play an uneven role across industries in terms of the employment and the value of production, implying that benefits will not be distributed homogeneously across sectors.
Horizontal approach vs. SME-specific policies
All the measures described in the following pages aim at SMEs, which make up 99.9% of the overall number of enterprises in Italy (European Commission, 2019[19]). In almost all cases, SMEs are the exclusive target. Measures specifically targeting large enterprises are rare. Measures explicitly targeting micro-enterprises, start-ups, and self-employed, often mentioned alongside SMEs, are not as rare. In cases when the target group is not explicitly identified (many policies are generically presented as "for the benefit of enterprises"), it is nevertheless the very nature of the instruments that indicates beyond reasonable doubt that SMEs are the target. The National Guarantee Fund for SME mentioned above, for example, can be activated for SMEs only. All measures adopted in compliance with the European State aid regulations, such as de minimis contributions, are addressed only to SMEs by default. In other cases, even in the absence of explicit elements, the nature of the adopted instruments (microcredit, seed loans, etc.) most likely suggests that SMEs are the only recipients. Noteworthy, an often-used measure, the redundancy fund normally reserved for larger enterprises, has been extended in the light of the current emergency to micro-enterprises with fewer than six employees. For instance, in Lazio, one of the first regions to publish information on the implementation of this measure, 93.7% of the beneficiaries are micro-enterprises (Corriere della Sera, 2020[34]).
Policy timeline
Figure 1 shows the introduction of the measures (launch date) classified by policy macro-area (see paragraph A classification of regional SME policies for a description of categories). Launch dates correspond to the date when the concerned legal instrument took effect or, in its absence, policies’ first appearance in press releases or other institutional sources.
Figure 1. Policy timeline, breakdown by macro-area
Source: OECD Trento, 2020 (the vertical axis indicates the total number of measures up to date).
Figure 1 shows that introducing simplified procedures was the most common policy area covered by regional legislators. On the other side of the spectrum, the measured aimed at tax relief and planning and budgeting were the least common. After a clear surge in the number of labour and welfare policies following the adoption of the decree-law of 17 March 2020, the curve slowed down substantially. The national law establishing a redundancy fund called for regions to stipulate agreements with local social partners to regulate the procedures of disbursement of their respective share (calculated by the size of the regional economy). Once all regions followed through with the procedure, in just few cases (see Table 1) they opted to set up additional social shock absorbers financed with own or European resources. On the other hand, the curve of public financing measures has shown a clear upward trend since the first days of April. In this regard, it is plausible that the European Commission's communications of 13 and 19 March and 3 April 2020, aimed at softening regulations of the State aid, provided regional legislators with a strong incentive to launch direct financial support measures for companies.
The timeline of appropriations shown in Figure 2 confirms this assumption. The figure shows the total sum of financial allocations associated with non-zero-cost measures (mainly deriving from direct public funding policies). The curve shows a clear increase between the end of March and the first days of April.
Figure 2. Timeline of appropriations (EUR million)
Source: OECD Trento Centre, 2020
Territorial breakdown of appropriations
Although only 30% of the measures recorded (84 out of 278) envision allocation of new financial resources, it is estimated that the policies launched during the observation period entail a total burden on regional budgets of EUR 1.34 billion. In one third of the cases (28 out of 84), the measures explicitly draw on ESIF, in particular ERDF (direct financing and credit facilities for businesses) and ESF (labour and welfare measures). The measures based on European funding sources account for exactly half of the total resources allocated (50.1%) despite their relatively low number in the totality of measures. In four cases, the measures are financed by the National Cohesion Social Fund.
As Table 2 shows, the North accounts for about one third of total appropriation, and twice as much is utilised in the North-East compared to the North-West. The Centre and each Island individually account for one tenth of total allocations. The remaining and the largest part of almost a half goes to the South.
Table 2. Appropriations by territorial macro-area
Note: *According to the classification adopted by the National Institute of Statistics: the North-West includes Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste; the North-East includes Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto; the Centre includes Lazio, Marche, Tuscany and Umbria; the South includes Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise; island Italy includes Sardinia and Sicily.
Source: OECD Trento Centre, 2020.
Looking into the territorial distribution of appropriations, the predominant role played by Southern regions appears to be due at least in part to the greater availability of resources from the ESIF. By way of example, three instruments introduced by Campania as a part of its “Plan for the Socio-economic Emergency” announced on 4 April 2020 are entirely financed through European resources. Campania’s non-repayable grants to micro-enterprises (EUR 80 million) and the fund for the liquidity of credit guarantee institutions (EUR 13 million) are financed within the Regional Operational Programme (ROP) of the ERDF 2014-2020, whereas the bonus to professionals and self-employed workers (EUR 80 million) is partly financed within the ROP of the ESF 2014-2020 and partly within the ROP of the ERDF 2014-2020.
As described in paragraph The major role played by the European Structural and Investment Funds and their territorial distribution, the greater availability of financial resources among Southern regions is closely related to the very principles on which the distribution of ESIF is based: the larger the size of the regional economy and the greater its development lag, the higher the allocation. Moreover, as highlighted by IFEL (the foundation of the National Association of Italian Municipalities) in a study published in December 2019, regions from Southern Italy are on average lagging behind other Italian regions in the implementation of ESIF, suggesting that a greater residual availability may have allowed them to have more room for budget reprogramming in face of the current emergency. Several consultations with experts in European funding issues and regional administrators confirm this interpretation.
Territorial distribution of policies
As the number of measures grew over the weeks, so did the number of regions adopting a diversified policy approach, i.e. covering multiple macro-areas. There are now 8 regions with measures covering all 6 policy macro-areas outlined in paragraph A classification of regional SME policies, 10 that cover 5 macro-areas and only 3 regions with less than 5 macro-areas involved.
Comparing the number of measures launched by different regions, the scenario appears to be much more diversified. The extremes are given, on the one hand, by three regions that introduced 5 or 6 measures, and, on the other, by three regions that have adopted 20 measures. Between these extremes, there are 10 regions with 14-18 measures, and 6 regions with 7-13 measures. The differences in the number and the areas of the introduced measures further confirm the diversity of the regional conditions and of the approaches taken by regional legislators.
Figure 3 presents the number of measures by the 6 macro-areas and by region or autonomous province. The figure shows that Apulia (8 measures), Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy (7) are among the regions most inclined to adopt simplification measures, Campania (8) and Abruzzo (7) show a preference for public funding measures and so on.
Figure 3. Frequency of measures by macro-area of policy, regional distribution
Source: OECD Trento Centre, 2020
The variability of the policy approaches is also evident in the map of the number of policy types adopted by the Italian regions (Figure 4). Most policy macro-areas have now been covered by the totality (labour and welfare, access to credit) or almost all (simplified procedures and public financing, respectively 20 and 18 occurrences) of the regions, whereas two macro-areas (tax relief and planning and budgeting) are covered respectively by 15 and 14 regions.
Many regions introduced a limited number of specific policy types within the macro-areas (one or two), while others follow a highly diversified approach. This is the case, for example, of Abruzzo in the public financing macro-area, Sicily and the autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen in access to credit, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the labour and welfare area (all with 4 types each), as well as Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Apulia and Sicily in the simplified procedures area (5 types of policy).
Figure 4. Regional frequency of policy types by macro-area
Source: OECD Centre of Trento, 2020 (the legend indicates the number of policy types)
First evidence on the effects of policies
The limited availability of statistical evidence is a major obstacle to estimating the effects of the policies analysed in this note.
The objectives pursued by the legislator and the expected immediate impacts of the measures are seldom reported. One exception is Campania, which provides an estimate of the expected number of beneficiaries for each measure and a burden on regional finance.
Apart from this and a few other cases, guarantee measures (or other measures facilitating access to credit) often contain estimates of the amount of private resources that can be "activated" through the public intervention. The expected multiplier effect is usually one to ten, i.e. for every euro of public expenditure (in the form of a credit guarantee, sometimes combined with interest rate subsidies or other facilities), bank loans to businesses of ten euros is expected. These estimates are contained exclusively in press releases or other sources of political communication, and do not appear in technical reports associated with the measures. The methodologies used to calculate the multiplier effects are unknown.
The multi-level policy tool, i.e. the redundancy fund to support temporarily unemployed workers not protected by other welfare, appears to be the only currently available form of policy uptake real-time monitoring. As mentioned above, the associated resources draw from the national budget, but are distributed and disbursed by the regions in agreement with the National Institute for Social Security (INPS) at the request of firms.
Table 5 shows the current state of progress of the practices, distinguishing between applications accepted by the region, then also by INPS and finally paid, indicating in this case the number of beneficiary workers. Since these monitoring mechanisms have been activated for a few weeks (the first flows date back to the period between 2 and 22 April 2020), but not yet by all regions and autonomous provinces, the representativeness of information can be limited.
Summary of the main findings
Italy has been exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic repercussions before any other EU country, which makes its policies of particular interest to international observers. In Italy's institutional set-up, regions play a prominent role in economic development policies. Since March 2020, the OECD Centre for Local Development in Trento has carried out an extended, real-time mapping of the policy responses adopted by the Italian regions to support SMEs in the face of the current emergency. In doing so, it aimed to complete the work of the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, consisting of an analysis of policies for SMEs implemented by national governments around the world.
The information analysed in this note is based on an exclusive use of institutional sources: in a prevalent share (55%), these are constituted by legal documents, such as resolutions of the regional and provincial governments (by far the most prevalent type). In the absence of direct legal sources, press releases or news published on the websites of the regions were the main sources. The time gap for the publication of the measures and the need to codify and harmonise their unevenly detailed information, together with the fragmentation of sources and the lack of homogeneity of political communication styles, represent the main methodological elements of complexity underlying this work.
Between March 5 and April 22 2020, Italian regions and autonomous provinces launched 278 measures in total to support SMEs and their workforce in the context of the COVID-19 emergency. Based on the aim of intervention, the measures can be grouped into six macro-areas:
1. Simplified procedures: measures aimed at streamlining administrative procedures involving SMEs – such as the deferral of deadlines for submitting applications for public funding or for reporting on investment plans subsidised through public incentives – and regulatory simplifications (including in the field of public procurement).
2. Public financing: the introduction or remodelling at more favourable conditions of any type of subsidised financing for SMEs provided by regional public institutions, such as interest-free loans, non-repayable loans, alternative finance instruments and other financial instruments.
3. Access to bank credit: this macro-area includes all interventions aimed at facilitating access to bank credit for SMEs and reducing the related costs. Typical examples are credit guarantee funds (national or regional), the reduction of interest on credit, the suspension of instalments of loans or the rescheduling of amortisation plans over longer periods.
4. Labour and welfare: policies to maintain employment levels and support temporarily unemployed workers in SMEs, such as incentives for smart working and out-of-work benefits, including regional allocations to supplement the national redundancy fund.
5. Tax relief: measures aimed at reducing or postponing the tax burden for SMEs, such as the deferral of tax deadlines, exemption from tax advances, advance payment of public contributions and the like.
6. Planning and budgeting: this category includes the establishment of multi-stakeholder task forces to consult on policy strategies, as well as regulatory provisions aimed at reprogramming and reallocating budgets to deal with the emergency.
Simplified procedures (77 interventions), public financing (61) and access to credit (55) are more prevalent compared to measures aimed at labour and welfare (47), tax relief (20) and planning and budgeting (18). The total number of labour and welfare measures includes the 21 policies (one for each region or autonomous province) implementing the nationally financed redundancy fund. This brings the number of “fully regional” labour and welfare programmes, which often include support to remote training and smart working, to 26.
When observed in the context of national policies, regional measures show in several cases a clear coherence with the higher level of governance. In the case of the regional special sections of the SME Guarantee Fund (established at national level), of the abovementioned redundancy fund – financed at national level but regulated and managed at local level – and of the moratoriums on bank loans – based on agreements concluded at national level but with the possibility for regions to join and involve local credit institutions – the link between national and regional initiatives is explicit.
Regional policies also present several links with the European regulatory framework: in particular, the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) for regional (ERDF) and social development (ESF) represent the financial source for half of the total appropriations entailed by the monitored measures.
Policy responses with a declared sectoral focus represent 89 of the 278 items recorded (32%). Agriculture and the primary sectors (agro-food, floriculture and others) are the most frequent subject of policy assistance (35), followed by tourism (22), commerce (14), manufacturing (10) and culture (8). There are 10 measures that support investments in testing, prototyping, research and experimental development (including correlated capital goods) the in fight against the COVID-19, or in industrial reconversion to produce goods and services necessary to tackle the pandemic emergency.
The prevalence of measures inspired by a one-fits-all approach from a sectoral point of view could derive from the contingent needs that characterise the current situation. As the time factor plays a key role, measures without an explicit sectoral focus could have been preferred, because they are faster to design and implement.
Although only 30% of the measures recorded (84 out of 278) envision allocation of new financial resources, it is estimated that the policies launched during the observation period entail a total burden on regional budgets of EUR 1.34 billion.
In one third of the cases, the measures explicitly draw on ESIF, in particular ERDF (direct financing and credit facilities for businesses) and ESF (labour and welfare measures). The measures based on European funding sources account for exactly half of the total resources allocated (50.1%) despite their relatively low number in the totality of measures.
The North accounts for about one third of total appropriation, and twice as much is utilised in the North-East compared to the North-West. The Centre and each Island individually account for one tenth of total allocations. The remaining and the largest part of almost a half (47.4%) goes to the South.
The predominant weight of the southern regions appears to be due to the greater availability of resources from the ESIF, deriving from the same principles of distribution that underlie European programming: the amount allocated to the regions is all the greater the larger the size of the concerned regional economy and the greater its delay in development. In addition, southern regions are on average lagging behind other Italian regions in the utilisation of ESIF, suggesting that a greater residual availability may have allowed greater room during the current emergency phase for reprogramming resources towards support to SMEs in a counter-cyclical function.
In addition to confirming the low propensity for tax relief measures, the analysis of the time evolution of the measures shows that, since the early stages of the observation period, simplified procedures have been the most recurrent policy macro-area adopted by regional legislators. On the other hand, the curve of public financing measures has shown a clear upward trend since the first days of April. In this regard, it is plausible that the European Commission's communications of 13 and 19 March and 3 April 2020, aimed at softening regulations of the State aid, provided regional legislators with a strong incentive to launch direct financial support measures for companies.
As the number of measures grew over the weeks, so did the number of regions adopting a diversified policy approach, i.e. covering multiple macro-areas. There are now 8 regions with measures covering all 6 policy macro-areas, 10 that cover 5 macro-areas and only 3 regions with less than 5 macro-areas involved.
Comparing the number of measures launched by different regions, the scenario appears to be much more diversified. The extremes are given, on the one hand, by three regions that introduced 5 or 6 measures, and, on the other, by three regions that have adopted 20 measures. Between these extremes, there are 10 regions with 14-18 measures, and 6 regions with 7-13 measures. The differences in the number and the areas of the introduced measures further confirm the diversity of the regional conditions and of the approaches taken by regional legislators.
This heterogeneity is confirmed by the analysis of the frequency of the different types of policies across the regions. At the level of macro-areas, four of these have by now been covered by the totality (labour and welfare, access to credit) or almost (simplified procedures and public funding, respectively 20 and 18 occurrences) of the regions, whereas the two remaining areas (tax relief and programming and budgeting) have been covered respectively by 15 and 14 regions.
Going into more detail and looking at the distribution of the types of policies that make up the six macro-areas, we notice a marked degree of heterogeneity: many regions have adopted a limited number of policy types (one or two), while others show a more diversified approach. This is the case, for example, of Abruzzo in the public financing macro-area, Sicily and the autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen in access to credit, Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the labour and welfare macro-area (all with 4 types of policy adopted), as well as Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Apulia and Sicily in the simplified procedures area (5 types of policy).
The limited availability of statistical evidence is a major obstacle to estimating the effects of the policies analysed in this note. The information sources associated with the measures set out just in a few cases the quantitative objectives pursued by the legislator. An exception worthy of mention in this sense is Campania, which for each of the measures with a burden on regional finance indicates an estimate of the expected number of beneficiaries.
The only form of real-time monitoring of data on the use of the measures currently available concerns the redundancy fund, but since it has only been activated for a few weeks and at different times between the regions and the autonomous provinces, the level of representativeness of the information is inevitably limited.
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[40] ISTAT (2019), “Rapporto Annuale 2019”, https://www.istat.it/storage/rapporto-annuale/2019/Rapportoannuale2019.pdf (accessed on 6 May 2020).
[7] Istat (2020), Contribution and positioning within the Italian productive system of the sectors of economic activity, according to the 5-digit Ateco classification.
[42] Ministero della Salute (2020), “Monitoraggio 22 aprile”, http://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_notizie_4567_0_file.pdf (accessed on 6 May 2020).
[22] Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze (2020), Gualtieri: “Un bazooka di liquidità”, http://www.mef.gov.it/inevidenza/Gualtieri-Un-bazooka-di-liquidita/ (accessed on 5 May 2020).
[28] Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze (2020), “Monitoring of Cohesion Policies, Programming 2014-2020. Situation at 31 December 2020”.
[18] OECD (2020), OECD Economic Outlook, Interim Report March 2020, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/7969896b-en.
[12] OECD (2020), OECD updates G20 summit on outlook for global economy - OECD, http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/oecd-updates-g20-summit-on-outlook-for-global-economy.htm (accessed on 5 May 2020).
[16] OECD (2020), SME Policy Responses, https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=119_119680-di6h3qgi4x&title=Covid-19_SME_Policy_Responses (accessed on 5 May 2020).
[26] OECD (2019), OECD Regional Outlook 2019: Leveraging Megatrends for Cities and Rural Areas, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264312838-en.
[17] OECD (2019), OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Outlook 2019, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/34907e9c-en.
[44] OECD (2018), Good Jobs for All in a Changing World of Work: The OECD Jobs Strategy, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264308817-en.
[30] OECD (2018), OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/reg_cit_glance-2018-en.
[23] OECD (2016), Regional Policy Profile Italy, https://www.oecd.org/regional/regional-policy/profile-Italy.pdf (accessed on 5 May 2020).
[45] OECD (2014), “The crisis and its aftermath: A stress test for societies and for social policies”, in Society at a Glance 2014: OECD Social Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/soc_glance-2014-5-en.
[43] OECD (2010), OECD Employment Outlook 2010: Moving beyond the Jobs Crisis, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/empl_outlook-2010-en.
[24] Regione e Province Autonome di Trento e Bolzano (1948), Constitutional law no. 5 of 26 February 1948, and following amendments, http://www.giunta.Provincia.tn.it/binary/pat_giunta/statuti/stat_ing.1123837756.pdf (accessed on 6 May 2020).
[11] Statista (2020), Italy: forecasted impact of coronavirus on GDP Q1-Q2 2020 | Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1101019/forecasted-impact-of-coronavirus-covid-19-on-gdp-in-italy/ (accessed on 5 May 2020).
[31] Svimez (2020), L’IMPATTO ECONOMICO E SOCIALE DEL COVID-19: MEZZOGIORNO E CENTRO-NORD, http://lnx.svimez.info/svimez/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/svimez_impatto_coronavirus_bis.pdf (accessed on 6 May 2020).
[14] Veneto, U. (2020), Emergenza Covid-19, Pozza: il turismo rischia di chiudere, http://www.unioncamereveneto.it/schedaNews.asp?idNews=8066 (accessed on 5 May 2020).
[13] Veneto, U. (2020), L’emergenza virus COVID-19 e l’impatto sull’industria veneta, http://www.unioncamereveneto.it/schedaNews.asp?idNews=8060 (accessed on 5 May 2020).
[8] Wikipedia (2020), 2020 stock market crash, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_stock_market_crash#Black_Thursday_(12_March) (accessed on 5 May 2020).
Annex 1.A. Basic socio-economic indicators on Italian regions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
The following table was designed for readers who are less familiar with the characteristics of Italian regions. It helps interpret the analyses provided in this note having at hand some basic socio-economic indicators on the Italian regions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as their demographic and economic size, the level of wealth of their citizens and the spread of the pandemic among the local population.
Annex Table 1.A.1. Basic socio-economic indicators, regional distribution
Source: resident population: (ISTAT, 2019[36]); regional GDP: (Eurostat, 2018[37]); regional GDP per capita: (ISTAT, 2020[38]); no. of companies: (InfoCamere, 2019[39]); unemployment rate: (ISTAT, 2019[40]); value added per employee: (ISTAT, 2019[41]); cases of COVID-19 reported (current positive) and deceased positive: (Ministero della Salute, 2020[42]).
Annex 1.B. Full list of regional SME policies
Abruzzo
The measures announced on 13 March 2020 are specifically targeted at SMEs and the self-employed and include:
Deferred deadlines for two programmes funded in the framework of the European Regional Development Fund have been deferred, aimed respectively at investments in capital goods and R&D;5
Suspended terms of payment of instalments for loans provided by the in-house regional agencies Abruzzo Sviluppo S.p.A. and Fi.R.A. S.p.A. Unipersonale;6
Extension of the eligibility requirements relating to a regional call for the promotion of self-employment "Vocazione impresa", financed with ERDF ROP resources;7
Institutional agreement with social partners was signed to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 27 157 200.8
Law No. 9 of 6 April 2020 provides for a wide range of measures:9
Unused regional funds will be converted into business support instruments;
The unused European Structural Funds from the 2014-2020 EU financial period will be converted into business support instruments;
Planned use of funds from the new 2021-2027 EU financial period for business support;
Suspension of all regional taxes until the end of the emergency;
Refinancing of the regional microcredit fund;
Establishment of a revolving small loan fund of EUR 10 million;
Establishment of a reinsurance and counter-guarantee fund with an endowment of EUR 2 million;
Facilitated conditions for guarantee operations granted in favour of companies benefiting from a bank loan guaranteed by the Abruzzo Crea facility under the 2014-2020 ERDF ROP: 80% coverage; suspension of the payment of loan instalments, providing for the extension of the public guarantee for the corresponding extension period of the amortisation plan; priority to loans of less than EUR 100 000;
Support for investment expenditure in capital goods made by micro and small enterprises for the purchase of capital goods, through the provision of a contribution, by way of reimbursement, of 40% and up to the limit of EUR 5 000 (allocation: EUR 6 million);
Use of the distance learning modality in the training paths of access to regulated professions managed by the region;
Immediate payment for the public works managed by the region, provinces and municipalities, in collaboration with the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Italy’s national development bank), for a total of EUR 20 million;
Budget of EUR 10 million for reclamation consortia for investments in the operation or maintenance of irrigation or purification facilities;
Allocation of EUR 5 million to suspend the fees due by firms, which are a part of industrial development consortia;
Measures for the amicable settlement of disputes between the region and companies, both in civil and administrative matters. The region and the related entities are considering a general settlement of pending disputes with companies, unless the amicable settlement of the dispute prejudices the interest or the right of third parties involved in the dispute;
Simplification of procedures for access to funding under Fondo Sviluppo e Coesione 2007-2013 and 2014-2020;10
Call for the selection of companies that will be included in a list of potential beneficiaries of an economic incentive to partially offset the fixed costs incurred to keep plants in operation.11
Aosta Valley/Vallée d'Aoste
Regional Law No 4 of 25 March 2020 introduced two measures to support companies' liquidity:
Establishment of a 48-month risk fund in the trust for the provision of guarantees for SMEs and the liberal professions amounting to EUR 3 700 000;
Suspension for 12 months of the payment of instalments on soft loans granted by the regional financial company Finaosta S.p.A.12
This autonomous region has launched several other measures:
Advance payment of wage subsidies to ensure the continuity of workers' income in the event of suspension or reduction of activity, in line with national policies;13
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 3 233 000;14
Deferral of terms for applications under a regional programme to support growth and jobs (European Regional Development Fund 2014-2020);15
Extension of application deadlines for authorisations for new planting of vines.16
Apulia
Measures to support the liquidity of Apulian companies include:
Allocation of EUR 23.6 million for investment aid for SMEs, from the ERDF-ESF ROPs 2014-2020;
Allocation of EUR 12.6 million for investment aid for SMEs in tourism, from the ERDF-ESF ROPs 2014-2020;17
Authorisation for local guarantee banks that were assigned regional funds to grant credit directly to Apulia's micro and small enterprises and self-employed persons, thus ensuring immediate liquidity by more than EUR 20 million;18
Establishment of a regional section of the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs, increasing the ordinary counter-guarantee coverage by up to 90%, in order to facilitate access to credit for SMEs.19
There have also been a number of extensions and simplifications:
Deferral by 12 months of any deadline for investment plans granted or subsidised by the region under various regional programmes aimed, inter alia, at SMEs and the tourism sector. The investment plans relating to these programmes will be extended;
The extension up to six months of the loans granted by the regional administration under the subsidised financing programmes managed by the Puglia Sviluppo S.p.A. regional development agency (microcredit, support for the internationalisation of enterprises, etc.);20
A set of measures (mostly extending deadlines for bureaucratic fulfilments) to support SMEs and in the following sectors: culture, entertainment, cinema, tourism;21
Activation of the redundancy fund for employees of partnerships and shock absorbers for the partners of such firms.22
A 60-day deferral of the submission deadline for applications to the "Smart Grids" call for proposals on energy efficiency;23
Derogation of the deadlines for the regional energy cadastre to become fully operational;24
A 3-month deferral of the deadlines for implementation of the Urban Commercial Districts activities;25
A simplified procedure for allocation of agricultural diesel; 26
Delayed payment of water consumption bills by SMEs, with a moratorium both in the payment of accrued debts (deferred in 12 monthly instalments) and for new invoices issued until 30 June 2020;
Acceleration in payments to companies benefiting from regional measures, with the support of Puglia Sviluppo, ARTI (Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation) and InnovaPuglia.
Like all Italian regions, Apulia has signed an institutional agreement to regulate the modalities for the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund in derogation provided for under the Cura Italia decree, for an amount of EUR 106 559 680.27
It is also worth mentioning the establishment of a technical table with the Polytechnic University of Bari to support Apulian companies interested in converting their production to make personal protective equipment or individual components of respirators for intensive care.
Finally, the call for proposals "Family/friendly innovation plan" encourages new ways of organising work among SMEs, favouring the destandardisation of working hours, through greater recourse to incoming and outgoing flexibility, time banking, teleworking and smart working. The financial resources amount to EUR 14.5 million, drawn from the ERDF-ESF 2014-2020 ROP. The maximum contribution for each project is EUR 100 000.
Basilicata
On 11 March 2020, the regional department for economic development announced a first series of interventions,28 subsequently taken up and expanded by the "First package of urgent measures to support businesses, workers and families",29 which in some cases were followed by the resolutions of the Regional Council (mentioned in the note in correspondence with the relevant measure):
Exemption from the regional corporate income tax due for 2020 by firms in the tourism sector, such as hotels and restaurants;
Regional subsides will be made applicable retroactively to cover investment and costs incurred for current expenditure by SMEs and freelancers during the emergency;
Extension of the terms for investments co-financed by regional incentive instruments and suspension of the payment of instalments for subsidised loans granted by Sviluppo Basilicata S.p.A. within the framework of programmes aimed at micro-enterprises in the start-up phase and SMEs, as well as sectors such as industry 4.0 and financial instruments such as microcredit;30
Activation of a regional fund for subsidised start-up loans (up to EUR 30 000) to SMEs in all sectors. The fund will be managed by the regional agency Sviluppo Basilicata S.p.A. (initial allocation of EUR 9.7 million). The loans will finance both investment and current expenditure;31
Support to businesses adopting smart working plans (previously announced on 11 March 2020): SMEs, self-employed workers and freelancers can receive aid of up to 70% of the expenditure incurred for the activation of smart working plans for their employees, for a total budget of EUR 3 million. Eligible investments include tangible and intangible capital goods, for a maximum contribution of EUR 200 000;32
Establishment of a fund for financing cooperatives (cap of EUR 350 000 per company), to support their capitalisation and maintain employment levels (allocation: EUR 3 880 000);33
Accession of the region to the abovementioned national agreement on credit: companies that have received bank loans for investments co-financed by regional incentive instruments can benefit from the suspension and extension of instalments; 34
An institutional agreement with social partners was signed to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 15 647 720.35
Finally, a regional task force has been set up to monitor the situation of local companies in the face of the current emergency.36
Bolzano/Bozen, autonomous province
During several press conferences held between March and April, the Provincial Council outlined, with an increasing level of detail, a broad package of aid to the economy and businesses:
Agreement between the autonomous province, local banks and cooperatives to support access to and guarantees to credit for businesses;37
Extension of delivery terms for public works contracts;38
Moratorium of up to 2 years for repayment of loan instalments granted on the regional revolving fund;
Acceleration of the payment procedures for the contributions due to companies, and their payment even if the initiative for which the application was submitted (fairs, training courses, etc.) did not take place;39
Simplification of the procedures for the transmission of business files: the fulfilment of the obligations for the transmission of requests, communications, reports and documents by companies and freelancers can also be carried out by ordinary e-mail;40
Suspension of the expiry of the payment terms relating to extra-budgetary debts of companies and freelancers to the province, with the exclusion of administrative sanctions and debts deriving from executive judicial measures;41
Postponement of payment terms for local taxes and duties;42
Approval of regulatory changes preparatory to the implementation of economic measures in support of enterprises, self-employed and start-ups (e.g. non-repayable financing for enterprises with up to 12 employees);43
Creation of an anti-crisis fund and establishment of new business support programmes (Restart Südtirol), with a budget of EUR 8 million;44
An institutional agreement with social partners was signed to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 13 966 560;45
Agreement with credit institutions and guarantee cooperatives to facilitate the provision of loans on preferential terms;
Within the framework of the above mentioned agreement, the province grants an interest rate subsidy;
The province also intervenes by covering the costs of granting the guarantee;
Promotion to local banks of the initiative of the Italian Banking Association and the social partners, agreed at national level, to grant eligible workers an advance of EUR 1 400 for the redundancy fund and other national shock absorbers;46
Non-repayable grant for companies and self-employed persons in the craft, commerce, services or tourism sectors, ranging from EUR 3 000 to EUR 10 000 depending on the size of the company.47
Calabria
The first measure implemented by this region consists in the setup of a task force with the aim of identifying the strategic actions to support the regional economy, developing proposals for action specific to the most exposed sectors and promoting dialogue with the social partners.48
On March 24, 2020, the Regional Council issued a resolution containing:
Suspension until 30 September 2020 of the payment of instalments on loans granted by the region (funds for employment and inclusion and for microcredit);49
Extension of the requirements laid down in public notices for the implementation of investments, their completion and final reporting;50
On 27 March 2020, an institutional agreement with social partners was signed to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 39 054 640.51
On 1 April 2020, an additional policy package known as the "Riparti Calabria" was announced, with a total budget of EUR 145 million, drawn from ERDF-ESF 2014-2020 ROP funds:
Establishment of fund, called "Liquidità Calabria", to grant loans to firms at subsidised rates;
Liquidity support measures, such as increasing the endowment of the regional special section of the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs;
Forms of support for small businesses such as micro-credit and liquidity support measures for social enterprises;
Measures to support working capital and losses incurred;
Strengthening of various tools for companies, such as qualified assistance, smart working and training.52
On 4 April 2020 the Chamber of Commerce of Cosenza launched a call for the granting of interest rate subsidies in the form of vouchers, for a maximum amount of EUR 10 000, for bank loans of up to 5 years and a maximum amount of EUR 100 000 (budget: EUR 3.5 million).53
Campania
During March 2020 this region has implemented a first series of interventions:
Acceleration of the procedures for the disbursement of regional funding to companies, also in derogation from official terms of contract, so as to provide firms with more liquidity;54
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 101 645 520;55
Suspension of several regional taxes for freelancers;56
Budget of EUR 7 million (ERDF ROP funds 2014-2020) to finance research and development activities to help overcome the current health emergency.57
The "Plan for the Socio-economic Emergency" of the Campania region, announced on 4 April 2020, provides for a wide range of interventions:
Allocation of EUR 140 million for non-repayable grants to micro-enterprises (craft, commercial or industrial firms with less than 10 employees and up to EUR 2 million turnover) in sectors affected by the current economic emergency through a one-off grant of EUR 2 000 in April 2020 (ROP ERDF resources 2014-2020). The region estimates that there will be more than 70 000 beneficiary companies;58
Allocation of EUR 80 million for non-repayable grants to professionals and self-employed workers (with a turnover of less than EUR 35 000 in 2019 and self-assessing a reduction in activity in the first three months of 2020) through the disbursement of a one-off individual grant of EUR 1 000 in May 2020 in addition to the support already introduced by the national government (ERDF-ESF ROP resources 2014-2020). The region estimates that there will be over 80 000 beneficiaries;
Allocation of EUR 13 million to set up a regional guarantee fund for credit operations activated by micro-enterprises operating in Campania, which are unable to access the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs. Loans are granted for a maximum of 18 months and for a maximum value of EUR 15 000. The region estimates the number of beneficiary enterprises at 2 500;
Allocation of EUR 5 million to grant a moratorium on loan instalments due by firms belonging to Industrial Development Area Consortia (ROP ESF resources 2007-2013). The region estimates the number of beneficiary companies at 5 000;
Allocation of EUR 50 million for fisheries and agriculture enterprises, in the form of a one-off grant of EUR 1 500 for enterprises with up to 5 employees and of EUR 2 000 for enterprises with more than 5 employees (Cohesion Social Fund resources). The region estimates an audience of 30 000 beneficiary enterprises;
Allocation of EUR 2,8 million for the introduction of a one-off grant in relation to the reduced earning capacity resulting from the closure of shops and commercial activities operating in publicly owned premises (ROP ERDF 2007-2013). An estimated 1 000 beneficiary companies are estimated;59
Allocation of EUR 30 million to support seasonal workers employed in hotel and non-hotel activities (Cohesion Social Fund resources);
Support for firms in the buffalo industry through the allocation of EUR 19 million to increase their liquidity, by granting subsidies for the adoption of biosecurity plans by farms, with each operator’s production costs reimbursed at EUR 1 per litre of milk, subject to a maximum expenditure of EUR 10 million for the year 2020 (Cohesion Social Fund resources);
Support to the floriculture sector through the allocation of EUR 10 million, for a maximum of EUR 10 000 per company (Cohesion Social Fund resources).60
Emilia-Romagna
This region has introduced a wide range of measures (20), including:
Extension of the deadlines for requests for regional contributions from companies involved in post-disaster reconstruction related to the earthquake of 2012. In addition, public payments due to these companies will be advanced;
Advance payment of EUR 6 million in public aids to the cultural sector;
Subsidies for the reduction of interest rates on loans to agricultural enterprises (EUR 3.4 million);
Non-repayable funding for enterprises operating in the tourism sector (EUR 3 million);61
Procedural simplifications on two calls for the internationalisation of enterprises in 2019-2020, in the framework of the Regional Operational Programme of the European Regional Development Fund;62
A moratorium on loans granted to companies in the Emilia-Romagna region, with the consequent extension of the duration of loans up to 100% of the residual amortisation period. In this way, the region adheres to the addendum to the 2020 credit agreement with the national association of Italian banks;63
The region and the banking system have agreed to provide SMEs with interest-free loans, using regional guarantee mechanisms, for amounts of up to EUR 150 000 and repayment schedules of 36 months (EUR 10 million, with an estimated impact of EUR 100 million in terms of investments mobilised);64
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 110 956 560.65
Launch of a call for proposals on rural development providing for compensatory allowances for farms and livestock farms operating in mountain areas, worth EUR 12.6 million, financed by the EAFRD;66
Introduction of a simplified procedure for the allocation of agricultural diesel;67
Extension of the deadlines for applications and fulfilments due for a regional programme to support agriculture called "Campagne";68
Postponement of several payments and obligations due to environmental protection;69
Simplification and deferral of terms on calls for proposals in the field of culture;70
Deferral of application deadlines on several calls for proposals financed in the framework of the Regional Operational Programme of the European Regional Development Fund;71
Extension of the social shock absorbers provided at national level with the allocation of 30 million for companies, including micro-firms with just one employee;72
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
With regional law No 3 of 12 March 2020, this autonomous region introduced a wide range of measures for businesses and workers, including:
Subsidised loans under the anti-crisis sections of the regional budget, which may be disbursed even without the acquisition of collateral or bank or insurance guarantees or guarantees issued by trusts or public guarantee funds. According to Resolution No. 415 of 20 March 2020 of the regional council, loans will range from EUR 5 000 and EUR 300 000, and will have a maximum duration of 6 years;73
The suspension of mortgages and the extension of amortisation plans on revolving funds for companies hit by the crisis;
A supplementary allocation of EUR 4 million to regional guarantee institutions. Resolution No. 461 of 27 March 2020 set out specific criteria and modalities for the granting of guarantees; 74
Measures to facilitate remote vocational training;
Reduction in rents for businesses in the tourism and trade sectors by granting a contribution, up to a maximum of EUR 1 000, in the form of a tax credit equal to 20% (allocation of EUR 7.5 million). Resolution No. 489 of 30 March 2020 defined the eligibility criteria;75
Extension of the deadline for the payment of regional corporate taxes.76
Other measures include:
De minimis contributions for research and development projects carried out by companies of all sizes (EUR 3.45 million allocated from ROP ERDF 2014-2020);77
Package of coordinated support measures for a total value of EUR 50 million in favour of the companies participated by Friulia S.p.A., the regional development agency, including: 24-month loans at subsidised rates and without commissions for urgent cash needs; free advice for the redefinition of business plans; the postponement by 12 months of the payment of all instalments due by 31 December 2020 without any additional interest;78
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 24 958 760.79
Regional Law No 5 of 1 April 2020 introduced three measures:
Deferral of deadlines for applications to public incentives, and for carrying out the related administrative fulfilments, e.g. in terms of reporting;
Advance payment of regional incentives already allocated, up to 90% of the amount due;
Subsidised financing through the regional revolving fund for agriculture: aid in the form of direct grants, repayable advances, tax and payment facilities, guarantees, loans and equity investments. The regional revolving fund has a current availability of EUR 50 million.80
New measures were introduced on 3 April 2020:
Provision of a contribution in favour of companies and self-employed workers for the implementation of smart working business plans for their employees, with a budget of EUR 2.4 million from the 2014-2020 ROP ESF. The contributions cover any consultancy and training services and the purchase of digital technology;
Support for the vocational training system to strengthen its capacity to deliver classroom training activities in distance learning mode. The contributions, with a total budget of EUR 0.5 million from the 2014-2020 ROP ESF, are aimed at the entire workforce, including temporary employees, the self-employed, owners of micro-enterprises and members of cooperatives;81
Adoption of a memorandum of understanding for the advance payment of redundancy payments by the institutions associated with the Regional Federation of Cooperative Credit Banks.82
Lazio
On 24 March 2020, the regional government announced the launch of the so-called “Ready Cash Plan”:
Activation of a special section of the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs dedicated to businesses and freelancers in Lazio, able to assign direct guarantees of 80% and to reinsure 90% of the operations guaranteed by dedicated regional institutions. Guarantees can also be provided for small and very small loans. An allocation of EUR 20 million is foreseen and it is estimated that the facility will be able to allow the activation of new loans by EUR 200 million;
Establishment of a revolving fund for small loans (EUR 10 000) at zero interest, for a duration of five years and with one year of grace. Budget: EUR 55 million;
Introduction of a subsidised funding scheme using an appropriation of EUR 100 million from the European Investment Bank programme for regional development, with loans of EUR 10 000 and a regional incentive to reduce interest rates (EUR 3 million have been allocated for the latter). It is estimated that the facility will allow the activation of new loans by EUR 200 million;83
A few weeks earlier, a call for non-repayable funding had been launched for companies adopting smart working plans (grants ranging from EUR 7 500 to EUR 22 500, depending on the size of the company). A total of EUR 2 million has been earmarked for this measure (from the ERDF-ESF 2014-2020 ROP funds).84
It should also be noted that a simplified procedure for the allocation of agricultural diesel has been introduced.85
On 25 March 2020, an institutional agreement with social partners was signed to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 144 450 440.86
Several measures were also taken on 25 March to ensure larger liquidity for companies:
Moratorium of instalments due to the region, up to a maximum of 12 months. Alternatively, an extension of the amortisation period of the loan may be granted, for a maximum of 100% of the residual duration and, in any case, up to a maximum of 5 years;
Suspension for two months of fulfilments due by beneficiaries of regional funding programmes;
Extension by two months of deadlines for apply for five regional calls for proposals.87
The following measures were approved in the beginning of April:
Suspension of the 2020 payment deadlines for the car tax, the regional tax on noise emissions from civil aircraft and the regional tax on automotive petrol;88
Allocation of EUR 10 million, divided into EUR 5 million for the floriculture sector and EUR 5 million for the production of cow's milk and buffalo milk, with a maximum amount of EUR 5 000 per enterprise;89
Allocation of EUR 10 million for private housing companies for works already suspended due to the health emergency;90
Allocation of EUR 23 million to reduce costs of rents for traders and craftsmen who have suffered a loss of turnover as a result of the closure of their shops;91
Establishment of a consultation forum with the social partners for the launch of "Phase 2";92
Allocation of EUR 250 000 for the “Safe Delivery” call for proposals, which finances the cost of home delivery by companies, with a maximum grant of EUR 10 000 per company.93
Liguria
On 11 March 2020, this region put in place a first series of measures to support the liquidity of SMEs:
Establishment of a regional guarantee fund covering bank loans to SMEs in the trade, tourism and agriculture sectors (EUR 5.5 million allocated);
Establishment of a revolving fund for subsidised loans to street retailers. Interest rates will amount to 0.75% and the amount of the loans will range between EUR 5 000 and EUR 35 000 (EUR 700 000 allocated);94
Revolving fund for subsidised loans (interest rate of 0.75%) to enterprises in the cultural sector. The loans will range from EUR 10 to EUR 25 000 and the amortisation plans will span over five years (EUR 500 000 allocated).95
Several measures were introduced in the following weeks:
Extension of the deadlines for several regional calls for tenders to support retail trade, the digitisation of micro-enterprises, and inland shops, financed by ERDF ROP funds 2014-2020;96
Extension of the deadline for the submission of applications for the call "Support for the implementation of complex projects of research and development activities for enterprises aggregated to the Research and Innovation Clusters", financed with ERDF ROP funds 2014-2020;97
Extension of deadlines in the fields of town planning and construction and mining;98
Institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 32 071 360.
Suspension for 12 months of payment of the capital share of medium- and long-term subsidised loans subscribed with regional development agencies;99
Establishment of a regional task force to support companies willing to repurpose their activities for the production of health care devices;100
Through the Regional Operational Programme of the European Regional Development Fund 2014-2020, EUR 3.5 million are allocated for a call for proposals to encourage investments in technological innovation, with non-refundable grants covering 60% of the costs, for a minimum amount of EUR 1 000 and a maximum of EUR 5 000. Access to the call will also make it possible to apply for vouchers made available by the European Social Fund for the training of the staff of companies adopting smart working plan, with an initial allocation of EUR 600 000;101
Deferral of deadlines for the payment of the car tax, in favour of families and businesses;102
Simplification of the procedures for access to funding from the Rural Development Programme: since the regional inspectors cannot carry out the necessary checks in person, it will be sufficient for companies to send photographic evidence;103
Funding for enterprises in the fisheries sector, from the dedicated European fund, amounting to EUR 500 000;104
Allocation of EUR 6 million to tourism enterprises to encourage new hiring from the ERDF ROPs 2014-2020. According to the agreement concluded between the region and the social partners, businesses can access recruitment bonuses defined as follows: EUR 3 000 for recruitment with a contract of not less than 4 months; EUR 4 000 for recruitment with a contract of 5 months or more; EUR 6 000 for recruitment for a permanent contract, including the change of a previous fixed-term contract. The budget for this measure is EUR 2.4 million. For temporarily suspended workers, the agreement provides for a project called "Smart@ttivo", which consists of an integrated path of active labour policy and distance learning, combined with income support measures in the form of a monthly grant of EUR 500 for a maximum of 5 months, with the possibility of applying for a voucher for the purchase or rental of information technology.105
Lombardy
Since the early days of the crisis, the region has implemented a wide range of support measures, including:
Deferred deadlines for the submission of applications for a regional innovation support programme in the field of the circular economy;106
Incentives for the digitisation of the regional Help Desk for Business, for a total amount of EUR 750 000. Of these, EUR 90 000 are allocated to municipalities in the red zones;107
Turnaround financing measure for a total of EUR 25 million for guarantees on medium-long term loans, covering up to 70% of each loan, to companies in the agri-mechanical sector. Loans will have a maximum duration of 48 months and will fund the purchase of tangible and intangible assets. They will range from EUR 500 000 to EUR 2 000 000;108
Contribution to the adoption of smart working plans to cover the costs incurred for digital training and the purchase of digital technology. Non-reimbursable funding will range from EUR 2 500 to EUR 15 000 (EUR 4.5 million allocated);109
Deferral of regional tax deadlines (car tax, eco-tax and tax on regional concessions);110
Promotional agreement for the "Negozi a casa tua" initiative: shops offering home delivery of food and basic necessities will be advertised on the websites of Lombard municipalities;111
Extension of deadlines on regional funding programmes for SMEs in manufacturing, construction and craft, financed by Faber 2019 Call;112
Institutional agreement with social partners was signed to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 198 376 880;113
Deferral of deadlines for fulfilments relating to the "Storevolution" call for proposals for micro, small and medium-sized commercial enterprises;114
Suspension of deadlines for the submission of applications for a call for tenders for the operation of the navigation service on the Navigli system;115
Extension of terms for a regional funding programme (Pianura e Colline) on agriculture;116
Subscription by the region to the Addendum to the 2019 Credit Agreement, which extends the temporal scope of applicability of moratoriums on loans and extends such benefit to all companies (beyond SMEs);117
Allocation of EUR 4 million for the call “Industrial Research and Experimental Development”, in the framework of the Regional Operational Programme of the European Regional Development Fund 2014-2020, as a part of the project “COVID-19: Together for Research for All”. The contribution covers 40% of the investment made by companies, with a minimum grant of EUR 300 000 and a maximum of EUR 1 million;118
Launch of the "SI4.0 2020 Call for Proposals" for testing and marketing of innovative 4.0 solutions, in particular for projects promoting the development of digital solutions in response to the COVID-19 health emergency, concerning the development of medical or worker protection devices and the innovation of emergency management processes. The call foresees a budget of EUR 1.1 million, of which: EUR 1 million funded by the Lombardy region; EUR 100 000 by the Chambers of Commerce. The contribution will range between EUR 40 000 and EUR 50 000, in accordance with de minimis rules;119
Extension of the terms of subsidised investments in the context of the 2014-2020 ERDF ROP “SMEs at the start” call;120
Call for incentives by EUR 10 million for companies converting their production into medical and personal protective devices.121
On April 15, 2020, the Council adopted three resolutions providing for the introduction of a "Credit Package":
Launch of the "Counter-guarantee 3" scheme, with a financial allocation of EUR 7.5 from the ERDF ROP 2014-2020, which provides for the granting of 100% counter-guarantees on portfolios of guarantees granted by trusts, for loans exceeding EUR 25 000;122
Agreement with the Lombardy Chambers of Commerce for the granting of an interest rate subsidy, with an allocation of EUR 11.6 million (EUR 9.1 million from the Chambers of Commerce, EUR 2.5 million from the Lombardy region). The grant will range between EUR 10 000 and EUR 100 000;123
The Genius scheme transforms grants provided between 31 January 2015 and 31 January 2020 into new non-repayable grants, in order for temporarily suspended SMEs to not lose such benefits, as otherwise entailed by to the requirement to remain in business for at least 3/5 years.124
In support of the above package, provision has been made for the refinancing, with a further EUR 2 million, of the “Credito Ora” line, whereby the region offers a non-repayable grant for the reduction of interest rates on loans granted to professionals and SMEs by the Finlombarda regional finance company and by the banks covered by the agreement; the new Credito Ora Evolution line has also been set up, with an initial allocation for interest subsidies of EUR 7 353 000.125
Marche
Measures implemented by this region include:
Postponement of the deadlines on regional grants financed under the ESF and the ERDF 2014-2020;
Deferred deadlines for applications for regional export and internationalisation incentives for SMEs under the ERDF-ESF ROP 2014-2020;126
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 33 105 920.127
Extension of deadlines for applications and fulfilments due to the regional Rural Development Programme, financed by the EAFRD;128
Postponement of deadlines for certain regional taxes, including business licence fee owed by freelancers and the car tax;129
A recently approved regional law provides for the establishment of an emergency fund for businesses and self-employed workers of EUR 14.2 million, financed by the region (EUR 4 million) together with the Chamber of Commerce, the provinces and trusts. EUR 11.7 million will be used for low-interest loans (not exceeding 1%) and EUR 2.5 million for non-repayable grants to reduce the cost of interest and guarantees. Funding will range from EUR 25 000 to EUR 40 000, which can be extended to EUR 50 000 for businesses making new investments to relaunch and diversify their activities, and up to EUR 5 000 for the self-employed. The duration of the loans is 72 months, with a 24-month grace period;130
The same regional law provides for a budget of EUR 600 000 to support businesses in the livestock sector.131
Molise
Three measures have been launched so far by this small region of Central Italy:
Suspension of the instalments on loans granted by the regional financial institution Finmolise S.p.A.;132
Suspension of deadlines for firms benefiting from European and national funding programmes;133
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 6 207 360; 134
Setup of a fund called "COVID-19 Micro-credit" for the allocation of loans of up to EUR 5 000, at zero interest rates, without guarantees and management costs paid by SMEs. The fund, entrusted to Finmolise S.p.A., is financed from reprogrammed resources (appropriation: EUR 8 000 000);135
"Io lavoro agile" is a public call aimed at promoting smart working in support of businesses and workers, through the allocation of EUR 461 179, and individual benefits ranging from EUR 10 000 to 50 000, as part of the regional programming of the ERDF-ESF ROP 2014-2020.136
Piedmont
Several policies have been carried out by this region:
Advance payment of regional contributions and financing due to companies. This measure should mobilise investment by EUR 200 million;137
Extension of the instalments due to the regional development agency Finpiemonte S.p.A. An estimated 1 000 companies will benefit from this measure and the funding in question amounts to EUR 110 million;138
Allocation to strengthen the regional section of the National Guarantee Fund to facilitate access to credit by local SMEs (EUR 54 million allocated from the ERDF ROP 2014-2020);139
Support measures for the activation of smart working plans by companies (EUR 4.5 million allocated from the ESF);140
Deferral of deadline for payment of car tax for families and businesses;141
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 82 506 160;142
Increase from 50% to 80% of the allocation of agricultural diesel;143
Allocation for trade, tourism and culture, partly financed by the ERDF ROP 2014-2020;144
Deferral of deadlines relating to compliance with regional grants under the ROP ERDF 2014/2020;145
Call for proposals ''Support for investment in business development and the modernisation and innovation of production processes'': extension of the deadlines for applications and extension of eligible investments;146
Provision of grants to businesses through the "Research Infrastructure Voucher" call for proposals: the region will cover 100% of the costs incurred by businesses, with a minimum of EUR 1 500 and a maximum of EUR 10 000, which have had their materials tested to contain the spread of COVID-19. The budget allocated is EUR 1 000 000;147
Deferral of deadlines for companies' compliance in the mining sector;
Allocation of EUR 7 million to facilitate access to credit for micro-SMEs and free-lancers, through the provision of non-repayable grants to enable beneficiaries of liquidity assistance to meet credit-related expenses: the maximum contribution per individual enterprise or self-employed is EUR 2 500 for loans below EUR 50 000, EUR 5 000 for loans above EUR 50 000 and EUR 100 000, and EUR 7 500 for loans above EUR 100 000.
Sardinia
Regional law No 8 of 9 March 2020 provides for various urgent measures to support and safeguard employment in the tourism industry, including:
The introduction of new regional credit guarantee instruments;148
The granting of regional interest-free loans to allow companies to pay social security and welfare charges (provision of EUR 1.7 million);
Aids for the realisation of online training courses (budget of EUR 1.5 million);149
Income support measures and active labour policies: redundant employees who do not qualify for standard national benefits are granted an extraordinary contribution of EUR 1 000 per month for a period not exceeding three months. Enterprises hiring the above mentioned workers for at least 4 months are granted a contribution of EUR 2 000, or EUR 500 per month for four-month contracts (budget of EUR 3.6 million);150
Unsecured loans to micro and small enterprises, not exceeding EUR 70 000 granted under de minimis EU regulations, interest-free and reimbursed over a period not exceeding five years from the date of disbursement, of which at least six months as pre-amortisation (allocation of EUR 15 million).151
The most recent measures include:
The deadline for invitations to tender managed by the DG for Cultural Heritage, Entertainment and Sport was deferred;152
Extension of deadlines for applications and fulfilments underuse to the regional Rural Development Programme, financed by the EAFRD;153
Suspension by six pants of instalments due to regional funding for entrepreneurship;154
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 32 847 280;155
General suspension of all regional debt collection activities;156
A request-based suspension of payments relating to loans granted by the region;157
Extension of call for applications for companies in the tourism sector;158
Guidelines for the simplification and acceleration of procedures financed from regional, state or community resources for enterprises;159
Authorisation, for the duration of the health emergency, to carry out taxi and chauffeur-driven rental services also for home delivery of basic necessities taken from businesses, traders and other operators;160
Grants for enterprises in the livestock sector (budget: EUR 1.5 million).161
Sicily
The policy responses undertaken by this autonomous region to support the liquidity of SMEs include:
Adherence to the Credit Agreement, providing for a moratorium on loans taken out with the banking system before the COVID-19 emergency or, alternatively, the dilution of instalments up to 100% of the residual amortisation period;162
Reprogramming of resources released from previous European programming (ROP ERDF 2007-2013), amounting to EUR 25 million, for the granting of portfolio guarantees;163
Doubling the amount allocated to the regional section of the National Guarantee Fund for SMEs;164
Subsided and unsecured loans to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, from the Sicilian Fund, for interest and investigation costs relating to unsecured financing with a duration of at least 15 months (including at least three months' pre-amortisation), not exceeding EUR 100 000 (allocation EUR 30 million);165
Non-repayable grant for loans granted to Sicilian companies with a grace period of at least 12 months. The contribution is worth 8% of the funding and may not exceed EUR 8 000;
Voucher guarantee: non-refundable contribution against bank loans guaranteed by trusts. The contribution is worth 3% of the financing and may not exceed EUR 3 000166.
There are several appropriations for financing specific economic sectors:
Allocation of EUR 10 million for subsidised loans to craft firms;
Allocation of EUR 40 million for investments in Sicilian agricultural firms under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. Contributions are granted on a non-repayable basis with a ceiling of EUR 300 000 per project. The incentive covers 50 % of the investment, which can be increased by a further 10 % if the proposers are under 40;167
The creation of a EUR 170 million fund for loans and grants to publishing, craft and cooperative enterprises has also been announced.168
Measures taken to support workers include:
Wage guarantee for public transport workers;169
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 108 111 520.170
There are also many simplification measures:
Simplification of procedures relating to public works;171
Extension of an application deadline for the call for proposals "Interventions for the protection and enhancement of attractive areas of strategic importance (protected areas on land and sea, protected landscapes) to consolidate and promote development processes", within the ERDF ROP;172
Extension of deadlines for funding programmes under the ERDF ROP;173
Deferred deadline for the submission of any documentation by firms involved in events, shows and tourist initiatives;174
Simplification of administrative procedures relating to the Rural Development Programme, financed by the EARDF;175
Extension of application deadlines for authorisations for new planting of vines.176
Lastly, a working group was set up within the Administration to develop medium/long-term economic measures to promote economic recovery.177
Trento, autonomous province
Provincial Law No. 2 of 23 March 2020 provides for a diversified package of measures:
Deferred payment of regional 2020 taxes on real estate;
Simplified procedures for the award of public contracts for amounts both below and above the thresholds provided for by European legislation, in order to increase the participation of SMEs in contracts;
Simplified procedures for access to regional contributions for businesses, both at the application and payment stage;
Simplified audit procedures for regional business support instruments;
Contributions for the reduction of the interest rate applied to companies for short-term loans granted by banks and other financial intermediaries adhering to the protocol signed with the autonomous province;
Recovery of unused regional funds for the purpose of business support.178
On March 25, 2020 the Provincial Council prepared two measures to facilitate access to credit for businesses:
Agreement between the province and local banks to introduce a moratorium on mortgages and leasing for 12 months (for credit lines of up to 24 months), with a benefit of six months additional to that provided by the national government under the Credit Agreement;179
Contributions for the reduction of the interest rate applied to undertakings for short-term loans granted by banks and other financial intermediaries adhering to the protocol signed with the autonomous province (allocation: EUR 2 million).180
Other measures approved by this autonomous province between March and April include:
Extension of the deadlines relating to regional contributions to the costs incurred by agricultural firms for the control and certification of the organic production process;181
Institutional agreement to regulate the modalities for the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund in derogation provided for under the Cura Italia decree, for an amount of EUR 8 535 120;182
Suspension of the payment of rents due by companies hosted by public entities;183
Allocation of EUR 2 million to the provincial employment agency for the creation of a special emergency fund for COVID-19;184
Establishment of a digital platform for home delivery companies;185
Establishment of a task force for the development of medium to long-term economic measures;186
Re-employment of workers excluded from the labour market (a plan known as "Progettone") in essential industries;187
Extension of the call for applications for the attraction of international trading partners.188
Tuscany
As regards access to credit, this region has introduced a number of measures, including:
Changes in regulations on the regional guarantee fund: increase of the ceiling for qualifying a micro-credit operation to EUR 40 000, increase of the maximum amount of guaranteed funding to EUR 500 000 for liquidity needs, including consolidations, increase of the guarantee coverage percentage to 60% for the above financing consolidation operations;
Modification of the call for guarantee vouchers by increasing the maximum aid intensity of the instrument from 1% to 2% of the guaranteed financial transaction, as well as the maximum amount that can be granted per company from EUR 5 000 to EUR 10 000;189
Moratorium on the payment of the instalments of the financing deriving from all the regional calls for tenders for companies and freelancers, accessing the procedures provided for in the Credit Agreement.190
On the work front, there are two interventions:
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 84 704 600;191
Establishment of a regional fund for the advance payment to workers of the redundancy fund.192
Among the measures launched by this region are three interventions for the agricultural sector:
Extended deadlines for applications for regional rural development programmes, financed by the EAFRD;193
Simplified procedure for the allocation of agricultural diesel;194
EUR 8.5 million to support Tuscan agriculture: in particular, EUR 4 million will go to farms converting to organic farming, while EUR 4.5 million will go to mountain farming.195
Further measures include:
Establishment of a roundtable between the social partners to devise measures in support of the tourism sector;196
Suspension of the deadlines for procedural requirements set by calls for tenders financed by the ROP ERDF funds 2014-2020;197
The same resolution promotes the advance payment of public contributions (up to 80% of the amount due) through the simplification of the related procedures.198
Umbria
On 11 March 2020 this region approved two measures:
Simplification of the modalities of access to public incentives and funding provided by calls for tenders and extension of procedural deadlines;199
Adherence to the Credit Agreement for the suspension of loans and the extension of amortisation plans, also with reference to loans co-financed by the region.200
Other measures introduced by this region include:
Extended deadlines for applications for regional Rural Development Programmes, financed by EAFRD;201
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 20 044 600.202
Deferred deadlines for bureaucratic fulfilments related to the "Charming Umbria" regional programme for tourism promotion, and for the submission of applications for the 2020 contribution in support of firms in the entertainment sector.203
Suspension of the deadline for payment of the annual environmental contribution due from mining companies.204
Veneto
Among the measures implemented by this region, a first group concerns income support for temporarily unemployed workers:
Stipulation of an institutional agreement with social partners to regulate the disbursement of the regional share of the redundancy fund established at national level, for an amount of EUR 99 059 920.205
Regional supplementary allocation to the national envelope of the redundancy fund by way of derogation, amounting to EUR 5.5 million.206
Measures aimed at increasing the liquidity of companies include:
Access to the national Credit Agreement and introduction of a moratorium on regional funding;207
Strengthening of credit guarantees for agricultural SMEs by increasing the percentage of cover for reinsurance operations to 90% of the amount guaranteed by the trust;208
Remodulation and implementation of the current financial envelope, amounting to EUR 30 million, of the regional special section of the Central Guarantee Fund, for direct guarantee and reinsurance operations and portfolio guarantees, and remodulation of the reinsurance operations of the Regional Guarantee Fund to facilitate access to credit for companies. New financing instruments of limited amount are also announced, such as microcredit (source: Direzione Industria, Artigianato, Commercio e Servizi, Regione Veneto).
In addition, several extensions of administrative and fiscal requirements have been introduced:
Extension of deadlines for fulfilments by vine growers and beekeepers and regional Rural Development Programmes financed by EAFRD;209
Prorogation of deadlines for fulfilments due to such rural development programmes;210
Extension of the deadline for the call for tenders promoting the aggregation of SMEs for the promotion and display of international markets;211
Extension of the car tax for families and businesses;212
Exemption for agricultural firms from the obligation to allocate at least 3% of regional funding to promotion and marketing activities.213
There are also numerous interventions of public funding and reprogramming of the regional budget:
Increase by EUR 12 million of the financial envelope fir the call for proposals under the ROP ERDF 2014-2020 scheme for manufacturing and craft enterprises aimed at facilitating investments for business reorganisation and restructuring;214
Reprogramming of unused ERDF-ESF funds towards instruments for access to credit (EUR 32.5 million) and income support for temporarily unemployed workers (EUR 30 million).215
Finally, this region offers qualified assistance to firms to promote their productive reconversion and ensure the safety of the working environment:
Technical support to companies wishing to convert production by benefiting from incentives under a national programme;216
Experimentation in 20 companies of the pilot project "COVID Manager", aimed at developing a strategy for the reopening of companies. The project is divided into three phases: the identification in each company of a COVID Manager as supervisor of the entire process; the definition of a business plan of "COVID risks"; the definition and strict application of ten operational guidelines to be implemented in office.217
Contact
Alessandra PROTO (✉ alessandra.proto@oecd.org)
Mattia CORBETTA (✉ mattia.corbetta@oecd.org)
Alexandra TAYLOR (✉ alexandra.taylor@oecd.org )
Notes
← 1. See, for instance: http://www.finanziamentistartup.eu/agevolazioni/
← 3. The ESIF Funds are implemented by Managing Authorities (i.e. Administrations in charge of managing the allocated funds) through Operational Programmes, which may have a national (NOP) or regional (ROP) scale.
← 4. Employment based on formal job agreement or a contract as opposed to work without such arrangements performed by, for example, family of a business owners.
← 5. https://www.regione.abruzzo.it/content/por-fesr-abruzzo-2014-2020-asse-i-%C2%A0azione-111-%C2%A0asse-iii-azione-311-proroga-termini-di
← 7. Director decree no. DPG007/71 of 20 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Abruzzo/3_PROVVEDIMENTO_DIRIGENZIALE_007_71_2020.pdf
← 8. Ordinance of the President of the Regional Council no. 9 of 18 March 2020: http://www.abruzzosviluppo.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ordinanza_9_2020.pdf
← 9. Law no. 9 of 6 April 2020: http://www2.consiglio.regione.abruzzo.it/leggi_tv/abruzzo_lr/2020/lr20009/Intero.asp
← 10. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 202 of 14 April 2020: https://www.regione.abruzzo.it/system/files/dgr/2020/dgr202_2020_pdf.pdf.
← 11. Decree no. 239/DPG015 of 16 April 2020: https://www.regione.abruzzo.it/system/files/avvisi/144034/dd-dpg015-239-del-16042020-approvazione-avviso.pdf.
← 12. https://appweb.regione.vda.it/dbweb/Comunicati.nsf/ElencoNotizie_ita/0C0CC15CCD0B3537C1258536005FDF41?OpenDocument=ita.
← 13. https://appweb.regione.vda.it/dbweb/Comunicati.nsf/VediNewsi/A0146A86AFE96977C125852D006444E7?OpenDocument
← 14. https://appweb.regione.vda.it/dbweb/Comunicati.nsf/ElencoNotizie_ita/69739C9D23D2E3C1C1258538005C50F5?OpenDocument=ita
← 15. https://appweb.regione.vda.it/dbweb/Comunicati.nsf/ElencoNotizie_ita/76DDD8A1487DC6C4C1258538004716B0?OpenDocument=ita.
← 16. https://appweb.regione.vda.it/dbweb/Comunicati.nsf/ElencoNotizie_ita/AC75E1D20F0C7143C1258543004BCD7E?OpenDocument=ita.
← 18. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 444 of 2 April 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Puglia/PugliaDGR_n_444_del_02042020.pdf.
← 20. http://www.regione.puglia.it/documents/3653273/50742580/283_2020_03_05.pdf/a5046a0a-5cb4-4511-8c81-3a75657be14c.
← 21. https://www.fasi.biz/it/notizie/approfondimenti/21755-coronavirus-tutti-i-contributi-delle-regioni-per-famiglie-e-imprese.html.
← 22. http://www.sistema.puglia.it/portal/pls/portal/SISPUGLIA.RPT_DETTAGLIO_DOC.show?p_arg_names=id_arg_values=55558_arg_names=_PAGINATE_arg_values=NO.
← 23. http://www.regione.puglia.it/web/pressregione/pressregione-rss/-/asset_publisher/V2vFLtqdAjTg/content/id/50859368
← 24. http://www.regione.puglia.it/web/pressregione/pressregione-rss/-/asset_publisher/V2vFLtqdAjTg/content/id/50859368
← 25. http://www.regione.puglia.it/web/pressregione/pressregione-rss/-/asset_publisher/V2vFLtqdAjTg/content/id/50906269
← 28. https://www.regione.basilicata.it/giunta/site/giunta/detail.jsp?sec=100133type=1012d=3063831alue=regione.
← 31. https://www.regione.basilicata.it/giunta/site/giunta/detail.jsp?sec=100133type=1012d=3063831alue=regione.
← 32. Regional Council Resolution no. 198 of 20 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Basilicata/3_DGR1982020signed.pdf.
← 33. https://www.regione.basilicata.it/giunta/site/giunta/detail.jsp?sec=100133type=1012d=3064082alue=regione.
← 34. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 200 of 20 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Basilicata/4_DGR2002020signed.pdf.
← 35. https://www.regione.basilicata.it/giunta/site/giunta/detail.jsp?sec=100133type=1012d=3064203alue=regione.
← 36. https://www.regione.basilicata.it/giunta/site/giunta/detail.jsp?sec=100133type=1012d=3064108alue=regione.
← 37. http://www.Provincia.bz.it/lavoro-economia/economia/news.asp?news_action=4ews_article_id=636164.
← 38. http://www.Provincia.bz.it/lavoro-economia/economia/news.asp?news_action=4ews_article_id=636186
← 39. http://www.provincia.bz.it/lavoro-economia/economia/news.asp?news_action=4ews_article_id=635920
← 40. Decree of the General Director no. 4805 of 19 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/PA_Bolzano/4_Decreto_DG_n48052020.pdf
← 41. Presidential Ordinance no. 13 of 23 March 2020: http://www.provincia.bz.it/it/servizi-a-z.asp?bnsv_svid=1036164
← 42. Presidential Ordinance no. 14 of 26 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/PA_Bolzano/3_Ordinanza_Presidenziale_n14_26.03.2020.pdf
← 46. Resolution of the Provincial Council no. 239 of 7 April 2020: http://www.provincia.bz.it/aprov/giunta-provinciale/delibere.asp?act_search=ct_subjectIt=ct_number=239ct_from=ct_to=ct_type=ct_action=0s
← 47. Resolution of the Provincial Council no. 270 of 15 April 2020: https://civis.bz.it/seca-resource?id=1067025erviceID=1036124ang=it
← 48. https://www.unindustriacalabria.it/2020/03/18/la-regione-calabria-istituisce-una-task-force-a-sostegno-dei-settori-economico-produttivi-calabresi/
← 52. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 30 of 1 April 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Calabria/3_DGR_n30_del_1042020.pdf.
← 53. Chamber of Commerce Council Resolution no. 28 of 4 April 2020: https://www.cs.camcom.gov.it/sites/default/files/uploaded/Bandi/2020/COVID19/BandoInteressi_covid_19_Approvato.pdf
← 55. http://www.nuvola.tv/regione-campania-firmato-laccordo-quadro-per-il-riconoscimento-dei-trattamenti-di-cassa-integrazione-salariale-in-deroga-ex-art-22-del-decreto-legge-17-marzo-2020/
← 56. http://www.regione.campania.it/regione/it/news/comunicati-2020-52q7/18-03-2020-comunicato-n-74-covid-19-tasse-e-tributi-sospesi-dalla-regione-zj33?page=2
← 57. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 140 of 17 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Campania/2_ESTRAPOLARE_DGR_140_2020Burc_2020_3_23_17_19.pdf; Resolution of the Regional Council no. 174 of 7 April 2020: http://casadivetro.regione.campania.it/CASA_DG20200000174ver03.pdf
← 58. http://www.regione.campania.it/assets/documents/all-1-avviso-bonus-microimprese-ultima-versione.pdf.
← 59. http://www.regione.campania.it/regione/it/la-tua-campania/avvisi-6fs4/avviso-pubblico-per-la-concessione-di-un-bonus-una-tantum-a-fondo-perduto-a-favore-delle-microimprese-artigiane-commerciali-industriali-e-di-servizi-in-dipendenza-della-crisi-economico-finanziaria-da-covid-19.
← 61. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/agenzia-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/@@comunicatodettaglio_view?codComunicato=93185
← 62. http://fesr.regione.emilia-romagna.it/notizie/primo-piano/export-e-fiere-nuove-disposizioni-per-i-due-bandi-por-fesr-2019-2020
← 63. http://servizissiir.regione.emilia-romagna.it/deliberegiunta/servlet/AdapterHTTP?action_name=ACTIONRICERCADELIBERE&operation=leggi&cod_protocollo=GPG/2020/226&ENTE=1
← 64. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/agenzia-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/@@comunicatodettaglio_view?codComunicato=93185
← 65. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/agenzia-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/@@comunicatodettaglio_view?codComunicato=93185
← 66. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/notizie/attualita/coronavirus-cassa-integrazione-in-deroga-in-emilia-romagna-richieste-oltre-8-milioni-di-ore.
← 67. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/agenzia-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/@@comunicatodettaglio_view?codComunicato=93235
← 68. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/agenzia-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/@@comunicatodettaglio_view?codCommunicato=93253
← 69. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/agenzia-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/@@Communicating_view?codCommunicated=93274
← 70. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/agenzia-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/@@Communicating_view?codCommunicated=93283
← 71. https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/agenzia-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/@@comunicatodettaglio_view?codComunicato=93288
← 72. https://www.agenzialavoro.emr.it/come-fare-per/schede-tematiche/per-accedere-alla-cassa-integrazione-in-deroga
← 73. http://mtom.regione.fvg.it/storage//2020_490/Testo%20integrale%20della%20Delibera%20n%20490-2020.pdf
← 74. http://mtom.regione.fvg.it/storage//2020_461/Testo%20integrale%20della%20Delibera%20n%20461-2020.pdf
← 75. http://mtom.regione.fvg.it/storage//2020_449/Testo%20integrale%20della%20Delibera%20n%20449-2020.pdf http://mtom.regione.fvg.it/storage//2020_489/Allegato%201%20alla%20Delibera%20489-2020.pdf
← 77. http://www.regione.fvg.it/rafvg/comunicati/comunicato.act?dir=/rafvg/cms/RAFVG/notiziedallagiunta/m=20200313130549002
← 78. http://www.friulia.it/it/news/friulia-approva-nuove-misure-urgenti-per-il-sostegno-finanziario-alle-imprese
← 79. https://www.regione.fvg.it/rafvg/cms/RAFVG/formazione-lavoro/servizi-datori-lavoro/news/113.html
← 80. Regional Law no. 5 of 1 April 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/FriuliVeneziaGiulia/7_FVG_LR_n5_del_01042020.pdf
← 81. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 517 of 3 April 2020: http://mtom.regione.fvg.it/storage//2020_517/Testo%20integrale%20della%20Delibera%20n%20517-2020.pdf; http://mtom.regione.fvg.it/storage//2020_517/Allegato%201%20alla%20Delibera%20517-2020.pdf
← 82. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 513 of 3 April 2020: http://mtom.regione.fvg.it/storage//2020_513/Testo%20integrale%20della%20Delibera%20n%20513-2020.pdf; http://mtom.regione.fvg.it/storage//2020_513/Allegato%201%20alla%20Delibera%20513-2020.pdf
← 83. http://www.regione.lazio.it/rl/coronavirus/giunta-lazio-vara-piano-pronto-cassa-no-burocrazia/
← 86. http://www.regione.lazio.it/rl/coronavirus/il-lazio-firma-accordo-su-cassa-integrazione-in-deroga-dopo-decreto-di-riparto/
← 87. http://www.regione.lazio.it/rl/coronavirus/bandi-regionali-moratoria-per-i-rimborsi-dei-bandi-credito/
← 93. Decree of the General Director no. 191 of 10 April 2020: http://www.arsial.it/arsial/wp-content/uploads/avvisi/DG_Det_191_2020-AvvisoPubblico.pdf
← 94. Regional Council Resolution no. 197 of 11 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Liguria/3_Deliberazione_197_11032020.pdf
← 96. https://www.regione.liguria.it/articoli/100786-eventi-live/25083-live-coronavirus-24-03-2020.html
← 97. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 228 of 17 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Liguria/2_Deliberazione_228_17032020.pdf
← 98. Order of the President of the Regional Council no. 10 of 24 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Liguria/1_Ordinanza_102020_24032020.pdf
← 100. https://www.regione.liguria.it/homepage/salute-e-sociale/101395-coronavirus/25235-coronavirus-benveduti-task-force-regionale-supporto-imprese.html
← 101. https://www.regione.liguria.it/homepage/salute-e-sociale/101395-coronavirus/25311-bando-dotazione-e-formazione-smart-working.html
← 104. https://www.albengacorsara.it/2020/04/09/liguria-mai-500mila-euro-ai-pescatori-tramite-i-fondi-feamp/
← 106. https://www.lombardianotizie.online/regione-e-unioncamere/
← 107. Decree of the Regional Council no. XI/2921 of 9 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Lombardia/3_DGR_nXI2921_9032020.pdf
← 108. https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioAvviso/servizi-e-informazioni/imprese/accesso-al-credito/bando-turnaround-financing/bando-turnaround-financing
← 109. https://www.lombardianotizie.online/coronavirus-smartworking/
← 110. Resolution of the Regional Council no. XI/2965 of 23 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Lombardia/5_Dgr_nXI2965_23032020.pdf
← 111. Resolution of the Regional Council no. XI/2963 of 23 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Lombardia/6_DGR_XI2963_23032020.pdf
← 112. https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioAvviso/servizi-e-informazioni/imprese/imprese-manifatturiere-artigiane-e-di-servizi/bando-faber-proroga-acquisto-macchinari/bando-faber-proroga-acquisto-macchinari
← 113. https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioAvviso/servizi-e-informazioni/imprese/gestione-risorse-umane/ammortizzatori-sociali/20200325-ammortizzatori-coronavirus/20200325-ammortizzatori-coronavirus
← 114. https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioAvviso/servizi-e-informazioni/imprese/imprese-commerciali/commercio-al-dettaglio-in-sede-fissa/proroga-redicontazione-band-storevolution/proroga-redicontazione-bando-storevolution
← 115. https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioAvviso/servizi-e-informazioni/imprese/imprese-di-trasporto-e-logistica/sospensione-termini-bando-navigli/sospensione-termini-bando-navigli
← 116. https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioAvviso/servizi-e-informazioni/imprese/imprese-agricole/boschi-e-foreste/filiera+bosco-legno-energia/bando-pianura-e-collina-ulteriore-proroga-termini/bando-pianura-e-collina-ulteriore-proroga-termini
← 117. https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioAvviso/servizi-e-informazioni/imprese/accesso-al-credito/agevolazioni-finanziarie-PMI-italiane/agevolazioni-finanziarie-PMI-italiane
← 119. Decree no. 31/2020 of 7 April 2020: http://www.unioncamerelombardia.it/images/file/AT_Determinazioni_2020/Determinazione%20D_O_%20n_%2031-2020%20del%2007-04-2020.pdf; http://www.unioncamerelombardia.it/images/file/AT_BANDI_2020/Bando%20SI4_0%202020.pdf
← 120. Executive Decree no. 4341 of 9 April 2020: https://www.fesr.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/PROUE/FESR/Avvisi/DettaglioAvviso/bando/bando-al-via-decreto-4341-09-04-2020
← 121. Resolution no. 3075 of 20 April 2020: https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/wcm/connect/29009296-6f0f-41b8-8cfb-1b9695e88335/200420+-+DGR+3075+-+PDL+interventi+per+la+reprise+economica.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSFEASRE-29009296-6f0f-41b8-8cfb-1b9695e88335-n6sr5cT
← 122. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 3053 of 15 April 2020: https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/wcm/connect/a2ad6605-fed2-48a2-bc12-a4a5eb7f3e48/dgr+3053.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-a2ad6605-fed2-48a2-bc12-a4a5eb7f3e48-n63IeUa
← 123. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 3052 of 15 April 2020: https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/wcm/connect/abe67a9b-37c4-4d8e-8fa9-fa15695541a4/dgr+3052.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-abe67a9b-37c4-4d8e-8fa9-fa15695541a4-n63HL89
← 124. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 3046 of 15 April 2020: https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/wcm/connect/4262c725-4375-4b0f-a585-98d98d348fb2/dgr+3046.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-4262c725-4375-4b0f-a585-98d98d348fb2-n63Hp6n
← 125. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 3074 of 20 April 2020: https://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioRedazionale/servizi-e-informazioni/imprese/accesso-al-credito/coronavirus-pacchetto-credito-imprese
← 126. http://www.regione.marche.it/In-Primo-Piano/ComunicatiStampa/id/28551/p/1/CORONAVIRUS-POSTICIPATI-I-TERMINI-PER-LA-RENDICONTAZIONE-DELLE-SPESE-DEI-BANDI-POR-FSE-E-FESR-E-LA-SCADENZA-DEL-BANDO-DELLINTERNAZIONALIZZAZIONE-BORA-DECISIONE-ATTESA-DALLE-AZIENDE-MARCHIGIANE-PRIMA-LA-SALUTE
← 127. http://www.regione.marche.it/In-Primo-Piano/ComunicatiStampa//id/28588/p/1/AMMORTIZZATORI-SOCIALI-IN-DEROGA-PRIMO-RIPARTO-DEL-MINISTERO-ALLE-MARCHE--MILIONI-DI-EURO-LE-DOMANDE-POTRANNO-ESSERE-PRESENTATE-DOPO-LA-PUBBLICAZIONE-DEL-DECRETO-INTERMINISTERIALE-E-DELLA-CIRCOLARE-INPS
← 129. http://www.regione.marche.it/In-Primo-Piano/ComunicatiStampa//id/28651/p/1/APPROVATA-PDL-SOSPENSIONE-TERMINI-TRIBUTI
← 130. http://www.regioni.it/dalleregioni/2020/04/10/marche-una-legge-regionale-con-le-misure-urgenti-per-il-sostegno-alle-attivita-produttive-la-prima-regione-a-farlo-609708/
← 131. http://www.regione.marche.it/In-Primo-Piano/ComunicatiStampa//id/28669/p/4/CASINI-EMERGENZA-COVID-AIUTI-PER-IL-SETTORE-AGRICOLO-DALLA-REGIONE-MARCHE
← 132. http://www3.regione.molise.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/17143
← 137. https://www.regione.piemonte.it/web/pinforma/notizie/coronavirus-prime-misure-per-sostenere-leconomia-piemontese
← 138. https://www.regione.piemonte.it/web/pinforma/notizie/coronavirus-prime-misure-per-sostenere-leconomia-piemontese
← 139. https://www.regione.piemonte.it/web/temi/sviluppo/agevolazione-dei-prestiti-sezione-piemonte-fondo-centrale-garanzia
← 140. https://www.regione.piemonte.it/web/pinforma/notizie/oltre-45-milioni-per-lavoro-agile-nelle-aziende-private
← 141. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 1/1153 of 23 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Piemonte/2_DGR_n1_1153_23032020.pdf
← 142. https://www.regione.piemonte.it/web/temi/istruzione-formazione-lavoro/lavoro/ammortizzatori-sociali/cassa-integrazione-deroga-prime-informazioni-utili
← 143. https://www.regione.piemonte.it/web/pinforma/comunicati-stampa/regione-piemonte-aumenta-dal-50-all80-lassegnazione-anticipo-gasolio-agricolo-per-2020
← 144. https://www.regione.piemonte.it/web/pinforma/comunicati-stampa/provvedimenti-per-commercio-turismo-cultura-dichiarazione-dellassessore-poggio
← 145. Decree no. A1988 of 9 March 2020: https://www.regione.piemonte.it/web/sites/default/files/media/documenti/2020-04/differimento_termini_bandi_por_fesr_ricerca_e_innovazione.pdf
← 146. Decree no.10 of 10 April 2020: http://www.regione.piemonte.it/governo/bollettino/abbonati/2020/corrente/attach/dda1900000090_10600.pdf
← 147. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 6-1213 of 10 April 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Piemonte/3_DGR_n6_1213_del_10042020.pdf
← 148. http://www.regione.sardegna.it/j/v/2568?s=405793=2=392=1
← 149. https://buras.regione.sardegna.it/custom/frontend/viewInsertion.xhtml?insertionId=93bd6afa-a622-45ba-b632-ee57ead0b578
← 150. https://delibere.regione.sardegna.it/protected/50015/0/def/ref/DBR49998/
← 151. https://delibere.regione.sardegna.it/protected/50013/0/def/ref/DBR49997/
← 152. https://www.regione.sardegna.it/j/v/2568?s=406138=2=3=1
← 157. https://delibere.regione.sardegna.it/it/homepage.page;jsessionid=A7958FE889FF5A96536CBBB39E8F1FE3B.app4?frame19_item=2
← 158. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 19/15 of 10 April 2020: https://delibere.regione.sardegna.it/protected/50327/0/def/ref/DBR50273/
← 159. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 19/13 of 10 April 2020: https://delibere.regione.sardegna.it/protected/50318/0/def/ref/DBR50271/
← 160. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 20/7 of 17 April 2020: https://delibere.regione.sardegna.it/protected/50373/0/def/ref/DBR50340/
← 161. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 20/5 of 17 April 2020: https://delibere.regione.sardegna.it/protected/50376/0/def/ref/DBR50338/
← 162. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 88 of 12 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Sicilia/1_SICilia_Delibera88_120320.pdf
← 163. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 83 of 12 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Sicilia/1_siciliaN083_10032020_1.pdf
← 164. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_IlPresidente/PIR_Archivio/PIR_CoronavirusprovvedimentivaratidalgovernoMusumeci
← 165. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_Servizi/PIR_News?stepNews=det_newsdNews=200481606
← 166. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 136 of 7 April 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Sicilia/6_Sicilia_Deliberazione_n136_del_07042020.pdf
← 167. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_IlPresidente/PIR_Archivio/PIR_agricoltura40mlninvestimentiaziendesiciliane
← 168. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_IlPresidente/PIR_Archivio/PIR_Misureinseriteinmanovraregione
← 169. https://www.ilfattonisseno.it/2020/03/sicilia-coronavirus-assessore-falcone-regione-garantira-stipendi-nel-trasporto-pubblico-speculazioni-saranno-sanzionate/
← 170. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_IlPresidente/PIR_Archivio/PIR_Vialiberacassaintegrazioneaziendesiciiane
← 171. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_ArchivioLaRegioneInforma/PIR_CoronavirusImpreseedilisbloccatipagamenti
← 173. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_ArchivioLaRegioneInforma/PIR_AttivitaproduttivedifferitescadenzePoFesr
← 174. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_LaStrutturaRegionale/PIR_TurismoSportSpettacolo/PIR_Turismo/PIR_Areetematiche/PIR_Manifestazioni/DA513-S6%20del%2001.04.2020.pdf
← 176. http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE/PIR_Servizi/PIR_News?_piref857_3677299_857_3677298_3677298.strutsAction=%2Fnews.dotepNews=det_newsdNews=200613227
← 177. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 120 of 26 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Sicilia/4_Deliberazione_n_120_del_26032020.pdf
← 178. https://www.ufficiostampa.Provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Misure-urgenti-della-Provincia-per-sostenere-famiglie-lavoratori-e-settori-economici
← 179. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Mutui-accordo-fra-banche-e-Provincia-per-una-moratoria-di-12-mesi
← 180. Resolution of the Provincial Council no. 392 of 25 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/PA_Trento/2_PA_TRENTO_DGP_n392_25032020.pdf
← 181. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Processo-produttivo-biologico-domande-di-contributo-entro-il-15-maggio
← 182. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Cassa-integrazione-in-arrivo-altri-fondi-nazionali-per-chi-e-stato-sospeso-dal-lavoro-a-causa-del-Coronavirus Framework agreement: https://ripresatrentino.provincia.tn.it/Accordo-CIGD
← 183. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Trentino-Sviluppo-Patrimonio-del-Trentino-misure-straordinarie-per-contribuire-al-superamento-dell-emergenza-Coronavirus
← 184. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/In-arrivo-2-milioni-di-euro-per-l-Agenzia-del-Lavoro
← 185. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Online-la-nuova-piattaforma-per-le-aziende-che-consegnano-a-domicilio
← 186. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Economia-e-Coronavirus-la-Provincia-al-lavoro-con-esperti-e-parti-sociali-per-impostare-la-manovra-economica-e-disegnare-gli-scenari-futuri
← 187. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Il-Progettone-in-aiuto-alla-distribuzione-alimentare
← 188. https://www.ufficiostampa.provincia.tn.it/Comunicati/Incoming-internazionale-supporto-ancora-piu-incisivo-alle-imprese-trentine
← 189. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 428 of 30 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Toscana/4_Delibera_n428_del_30032020.pdf
← 190. Resolution of the Regional Council no. 427 of 30 March 2020: http://www.regioni.it/cms/file/Image/upload/2020/rilevazione_provvedimenti_AAPP_COVID19/Toscana/3_Delibera_n427_del_30032020.pdf
← 191. https://www.regione.toscana.it/-/cassa-integrazione-in-deroga-per-covid-19
← 192. https://www.toscana-notizie.it/web/toscana-notizie/-/cassa-integrazione-fondo-regionale%C2%A0per-l-anticipazione-ai-lavoratori
← 193. https://www.toscana-notizie.it/web/toscana-notizie/-/programma-di-sviluppo-rurale-proroga-dei-bandi-aperti-fino-ad-aprile-2020
← 194. https://www.toscana-notizie.it/web/toscana-notizie/-/coronavirus-dal-31-marzo-al-via-liquidit%C3%A0-imprese-e-domande-per-cassa-integrazione-in-deroga
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