Italy: Criminal clans seek to tap into EU funds
Through the recovery fund, the EU will offer member states €1.8 trillion ($2.2 trillion) in grants for COVID-19 spending. €13.5 billion will go to Italy for 2021-2022. But will that money end up where it s needed?
Italian criminal clans are seeking to exploit EU funding loopholes
There are indications that criminal organizations are preparing to intercept a large sum of the funds slated for Italy and there s widespread public concern that the much-needed financial support is a chimera more than anything else. There is despair, because the situation is already dramatic, and the concern is that the funds will not be spent for the interest of the territory and citizens, says Giuseppe Scognamiglio, a host at Radio Siani and an anti-Camorra activist in Ercolano, just outside Naples.
WATCH | Europe strikes massive COVID-19 recovery deal:
EU strikes massive COVID-19 recovery deal
World9 months ago
3:54
After nearly five days of negotiations, the European Union has reached a trillion-dollar deal to help the bloc s hardest-hit countries recover from COVID-19.3:54
At the heart of it is the principle of rule of law, a principle the EU Commission says Poland and Hungary are abusing. Both countries have just lost cases against the EU in the European Court of Justice.
The first, against Poland, was for court packing â that is, forcing judges to take early retirement and then replacing them with governing party loyalists.Â