Italy does not use European funds to do research in agriculture

The beautiful country does not exploit the resources of the CAP for technological and social advances in the fields or for the protection of workers. A route that the NRRR must reverse

(photo: Getty Images) The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) provides agriculture with a very ambitious plan in terms of innovation, including 500 million in terms of of machinery and 1.5 billion for the so-called agri-solar, or for the conversion of the roofs of Italian farms into photovoltaic panels. The theme, however, seems to be out of focus. While in the Netherlands, for example, the agricultural sector has renewed itself, using hydroponic crops, in Italy innovation languishes, despite the fact that the market linked to innovative startups in the sector is already worth 500 million euros.

In general , the vision that regional decision-makers have in the field of agriculture is that of a sector that is not very innovative but sustainable, with an unbalanced focus on the company and not on the workforce, both in terms of income, guaranteeing the labor mobility of those who work in the sector, both in terms of continuous staff training. All this emerges in the data of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, one of the structural funds of the European Union. For Italy, during the last seven years of the European budget, 20.9 billion euros were allocated, putting our country slightly below France, the recipient of 21.2 billion. Here is how the Italian regions have spent the appropriations.

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How the regions spent the European agricultural funds

The priorities of the Italian regions are essentially three: support for small and medium-sized enterprises, environmental sustainability and the territory. In mountainous regions, such as the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano or the Aosta Valley, support for SMEs is overcome by environmental issues. The same happens in Sicily, Puglia and Calabria, among others.

Alongside these priorities, however, there is little trace of investment in research and innovation. Tuscany, which, for example, is the strongest in this sense, with regard to the other structural funds (Social Fund and Regional Development Fund) has dedicated only 19 million euros in the whole seven years to research and innovation in the field. agricultural. Lombardy, where the Expo dedicated to food took place in 2015, dedicated only 3 million euros to research and technological innovation, a figure not far from that of Piedmont (3.7 million).

The role of the CAP

The money from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development comes from the Common Agricultural Policy, the infamous CAP. The CAP has two pillars, the direct payment to farmers and the rural development fund. Here we deal, in a majority way, with the second pillar, or the structural fund that supports agriculture in the various regions. The CAP is, in fact, a protectionist measure that allows the agriculture of the European Union to defend itself from other areas of the world. Alone, it represents 38% of the European budget of the last seven years.

The protectionist nature of the CAP makes it hardly compatible with research and development. However, in Italy this aspect takes on a different meaning given the problems that the sector has, including working conditions and low income for those who work in the sector. In this sense, not only are you investing little, but you are also investing less than you should, as the next map shows.

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Tuscany, as far as research and development is concerned, is the one that does the least worst, spending just over 30% of the amount allocated on the subject. As for social inclusion, the best in this field is Veneto, which spends just over 53% of resources. The rest is the desert. The southern regions, those where the problem of illegal hiring, for example, is more present, do not use European funds dedicated to agricultural work which could help to limit the problem.

A scarce propensity for innovation

However, the southern regions are not an isolated case. In general, the Italian agricultural world seems to be very little sensitive to the issue of research and development and the improvement of a workforce to recruit which is also resorted to the hiring. Not only that, although digital can be a tool to guarantee a future for the sector, little is still being done in this area.

The real problem, however, is not so much in how the regions decide to allocate the funds European as, perhaps, in the planning in the European institutions of the CAP. Looking at who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the common agricultural policies as a whole, we see that they are basically natural persons, not so much companies. The figure, in Italy, is 83% of the total, which drops to 61% when it comes to who receives the funds. But, as the next graph shows, it's not just an Italian trend.

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The previous visualization uses data from the European Parliament processed in 2019 and analyzes which are the ultimate beneficiaries of both CAP pillars. The graph shows a very important detail: almost everywhere in Europe, most of the funds go to individuals. What is a protectionist form to defend European agri-food production is ultimately a form of welfare for the individual farmer who, otherwise, would have many problems surviving globalization.

Attention to the environment

The second pillar of the CAP, that of the structural funds, also has a component linked to the ecological transition. And, in fact, as we will see in the next graph, the regions have been able to spend the funds on the environment. Looking at how the regions have spent in terms of percentage by theme, we see that the item of expenditure that sees the greatest completion of the expenditure of allocated funds are the items related to environmental protection and the overcoming of fossil fuels. This aspect is in line with the agricultural part of the Pnrr and is certainly among the most "future-proof" of Italian agricultural policy, as the next graphs show.

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The previous graph shows that in Italy the funds have been spent about half of the funds for the protection of the environment without the appropriations being reduced. However, while regions have been good at spending that money on goals like ecological transition, the same cannot be said for issues like digital or improving workforce conditions. And although in absolute terms the investments in support of small and medium-sized enterprises are prevalent, these represent only a part of the dedicated allocations.

For example, one of the Italian agricultural regions par excellence, Piedmont, has spent only 54% of its funds for supporting SMEs, while for the promotion and adaptation to climate change it reached 84%. The funds for digital investments, on the other hand, were spent at 50% but already in 2018. This means that in the last two years of seven years the programs for the digitization of the agricultural sector financed by this structural fund have stopped. The same dynamics are repeated everywhere in the country without particular geographical distinctions. The same thing can be observed if we evaluate the absolute spending power of the individual regions, as shown in the next graph.

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The previous graph shows, on the left axis and with the gold colored area how much money has been allocated to the European Agricultural Rural Development Fund, on the left axis the percentage of expenditure by the regions, in purple. The Autonomous Province of Bolzano, in 2017, had already spent almost 40% or of its appropriations. In 2016, Emilia-Romagna had already spent 8% of its share. Sardinia, in 2016, had already reached 10%. Yet regions rarely spend more than 60%. Only Bolzano has managed to reach 78%, while the other regions stop much lower.

This series of graphs, so far, has given contradictory indications. While, on the one hand, European funds are spent to support SMEs, the real policy priority of the Italian regions seems to be the protection of the environment. However, climate change also pushes for an intervention on crops and cultivation techniques, but this effort has not been made in the last seven years and the few funds allocated to research and development have practically not been spent. Furthermore, the use of the European structural fund dedicated to agriculture shows little attention to the weak link of Italian agriculture, the workers, in whom it is decided not to invest to ensure greater social inclusion and continuous training. In summary, Italian agriculture risks remaining hooked to traditional dynamics and not evolving. Pnrr is an opportunity to change course.


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Topics

Agriculture Europe Italy Made in Italy National recovery and resilience plan - Pnrr globalData.fldTopic = "Agriculture, Europe, Italy, Made in Italy, National Recovery and Resilience Plan - Pnrr"

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