Interni 6 May 2023 – 06:00 “Italy does not intend to use Pnrr funds to produce weapons” “Italy does not intend to use Pnrr funds to produce weapons”. So sources of Palazzo Chigi consulted on the matter. The same sources underline that “Italy, in coordination with its allies, supports Ukraine on a political and military level” and that “the government is in favor of strengthening the capacity of the European defense industry, also with a view to greater strategic autonomy of the EU. Italy – the sources continue – is in favor of a flexible use of European funds, including those of the Pnrr, but the latter is a strategic investment instrument and not a vehicle for financing the production of munitions or armaments”. Therefore, the same sources specify, this will be the position that the Italian government will hold during the negotiations on the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) proposal presented in recent days by the European Commission, which provides for recourse to Pnrr funds as a possibility at the discretion of governments and not as an obligation. The hypothesis of being able to use the funds of the Pnrr for weapons had already infuriated the Five Stars, who had raised the barricades: «We will never allow it – the leader Giuseppe Conte had already warned – I hope that the Meloni government will not push so hard. We will not allow the 209 billion of the Pnrr to be used for weapons and ammunition instead of nursery schools, health care and the environment. Those funds are used to get Italy back on its feet, not to wage war».
