Elections cast doubt over Rome’s ability to stick to reform timetableGovernments and investors across Europe are looking nervously at Italy as they try to piece together what the collapse of Mario Draghi’s government will mean for the EU’s €800bn Covid recovery fund — of which Rome is the largest recipient.
The fund is the EU’s most ambitious joint economic project since the birth of the euro, bringing member states together to guarantee the issuance of joint debt by the European Commission on an unprecedented scale. Italy alone has been allocated €200bn of EU funds, considered vital to reboot the country’s chronically underperforming economy.