The use of EU Structural Funds in Italy to support the reuse of confiscated assets

1. The use of EU Structural Funds in Italy
to support the reuse of confiscated assets
Simona De Luca, Evaluation Unit
Dept. for Cohesion Policy - Presidency of the Council of the Ministers
Davide Pati
Libera – Associazioni, nomi e numeri contro le mafie
5th Meeting of the ARO platform subgroup on asset management
Bruxelles, 22 September 2016

2. Outline
1. Cohesion policy in Italy
2. Confiscated assets in Italy: total number
and support from cohesion policy
3. Transparency and civic monitoring on
cohesion policy: an opportunity for
projects on confiscated assets
4. Highlights on flagship projects
5. Cohesion policy plan on confiscated
assets for programming cycle 2014-2020

3. 1.
Cohesion policy in Italy

4. Italian Constitution (art. 119):
“In order to promote economic
development and cohesion # the
State shall allocate additional
resources #”.
Italy: some key facts
Italy is among largest
contributors to the EU budget
Large regional disparities
GDP per capita Youth unemployment rate
Less developed
Transition
More developed
Relative poverty index (year 2012, source: Istat)
Source:http://ec.europa.eu/budget/figures/2007-2013/index_en.cfm

5. European Union: high heterogeneity among regions
© EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries
Europe 2020 index
4 EU headline targets (2012)
Source: EU DG Regio,
Regional Focus 01/2015
100 = meets or exceed all targets
UE Average = 71,4

6. Cohesion policy aims at reducing disparities
In Italy and in Europe
All over Italy (although mostly in the South)
in many different policy sectors
in order to reduce disparities, attract
business and enhance opportunities and
the quality of services
EU funds + national cohesion fund
More developed regions
Transition regions
Less developed regions2007-2013
~ 100 bn €
(under implementation)
2014-2020
~ 123 bn €
(planned)

7. 2.
Confiscated assets in Italy: total
number and support from
cohesion policy

8. Number of confiscated assets in Italy
Approx. 8,000 properties
and 1,550 companies.
Territorial concentration in
Southern Italy (Sicily,
Campania, Calabria,
Apulia) but significant
presence also in Lombardy
Data (update Sep. 2015)
from the Italian National
Agency on Confiscated
Assets (ANBSC) mapped
by Confiscati Bene, a
participatory project
carried out by a group of
journalists, open data and
anti-mafia activists and
technologists

9. Cohesion Policies for the reuse of confiscated assets
for institutional and social purposes
• In Italy seizures and confiscation have reached significant capital,
economic and financial value
• Rognoni-La Torre Law of 1982, Law 109/1996
• EU Directive on the confiscation of assets, adopted in February
2014 suggests to MS to adopt measures for the reuse of
confiscated assets for public and social purposes.
• Confiscated assets can play a relevant role in territorial
development supported by cohesion policies with the common
objectives of reducing territorial disparities and promoting social
inclusion

10. Confiscated assets and cohesion policies in Italy
2007-2013 (evidence from the implementation):
• EU Structural Funds:
ERDF: 3 OPs managed at the central level + OPs at the regional
(all for 4 least developed regions in the South)
ESF 1 regional OP in Lombardy
• National Funds for Cohesion:
2 central and 2 regional Programmes, all in the South
2014-2020:
A national strategy funded by EU ESIF resources (National OP Legality,
Governance and Institutional Capacity and Regional Programmes)
and by National Funds for Cohesion
Focus published on the OpenCoesione web portal:
www.opencoesione.gov.it/pillola/pillola-n-27-beni-confiscati-e-politiche-di-
coesione-progetti-attuazione-al-31-dicembre-2015-e-iniziative-corso/
In 2007-2013 EARDF
supported other
interventions on
confiscated assets. In
2014-2020 EARDF is
included in the ESIF

11. 2007-2013 EU&National cohesion policy to enhance
confiscated assets (update 31 Dec. 2015)
Total interventions Of which: hard Of which: soft
Num. of
projects
Total
Public Cost
(Meuro)
Payments
(Meuro)
Num. of
projects
Total
Public Cost
(Meuro)
Payments
(Meuro)
Num. of
projects
Total
Public Cost
(Meuro)
Payments
(Meuro)
CALABRIA 61 29.37 19.24 60 28.71 18.99 1 0.65 0.25
CAMPANIA 36 34.65 20.61 22 33.63 20.20 14 1.02 0.40
APULIA 43 21.36 19.97 36 21.25 19.86 7 0.12 0.12
SICILY 82 30.95 23.00 78 30.86 22.92 4 0.08 0.08
LOMBARDY 2 0.67 0.52 - - - 2 0.67 0.52
NATIONAL LEVEL 8 7.59 6.76 2 0.67 0 6 6.92 6.76
TOTAL 232 124.58 90.10 198 115.13 81.97 34 9.45 8.13
• Hard inteventions: renewal and redevelopment of confiscated properties.
Approx. 92% of total public funding for confiscated assets
• Soft interventions: support to institutional capacity in confiscated assets
management, education on legality, projects for social inclusion.
Approx. 8% of total public funding for confiscated assets

12. 2007-2013 EU&National cohesion policies to enhance
confiscated assets (update 31 Dec. 2015)
• Hard inteventions: 50% of the total public cost is of completed projects
• Soft interventions: 70% of the total public cost is of completed projects
Completed projects are fully paid interventions (financial progress> 95%)
with administrative procedures ended before the last monitoring date

13. 3.
Transparency and civic
monitoring on cohesion policy:
an opportunity for projects on
confiscated assets

14. The Italian open government strategy on Cohesion Policy for:
• a more efficient and effective use of resources and
destination of funds consistent with people’s needs
• improve decision making and policy design, also by
increasing access to and quality of information
• increasing involvement of stakeholders and civic partners
• broadening the opportunities for analyses and evaluations
on relevant policy issues
• encouraging the creation of new tools and services
revolving around the availability of open data

15. Adaptation of
Open government diagram
by Armel Le Coz and Cyril Lage
released under Creative Commons
Attribution terms

16. Open data licence to support re-use
Information about
projects collected from
National and Regional
Managing Authorities:
• description
• funding (amount and
sources)
• locations
• thematic areas
• public/private
subjects involved
• deployment timing
100+ variables for each
project in open data
section (CSV)
+ access via API
The web portal: www.opencoesione.gov.it

17. OPEN DATA, DATA JOURNALISM, CIVIC
MONITORING AND COHESION POLICY.
SINCE 2013 IN ITALIAN HIGH-SCHOOLS.
Partnership with EC Representation in Italy
and Europe Direct Information Centres
Collaboration with “ASOC Friends”
(selected civil society organisations)
www.ascuoladiopencoesione.it
OpenCoesione School: the project
OpenCoesione School (ASOC) is an
innovative interdisciplinary educational project
aimed at high school students. By working on
a storytelling research based on cohesion
projects, they experience how cohesion policy
affects their own neighbourhoods.
METHOD
● Online MOOC with support materials and
community
● Distance learning for teachers
● Territorial networks of experts on cohesion policy
thematic areas or transversal issues
OBJECTIVES
● Promote the principles of aware citizenship
● Encourage responsible use of ICT, including
open data, and social media
● Foster civic monitoring of public funding
Raising a new generation of civic awareness

18. Civic monitoring on confiscated assets:
OpenCoesione School in Calabria
Liceo Zaleuco - Locri, RC
Monitoring a confiscated building transformed in a Youth Hostel
http://opencoesione.gov.it/progetti/2mint25cal13/
The project is fully paid and the structural transformation is completed, but
the managing entity of the Hostel still has to be contracted by the Municipal
Administration. First tender in 2016 was deserted.
BEFORE AFTER

19. 4.
Highlights on flagship projects

20. Top financed hard interventions on confiscated assets
12 Million € on Environmental rehabilitation for the use and reuse of coastal
areas and heritage of the Campania Region

21. Top financed hard interventions on confiscated assets
3 Million € on Recovery and reuse of Teti Maffuccini palace as a hub for
cultural heritage and legality

22. Top financed soft interventions on confiscated assets
4.4 Million € on R.E.G.I.O. – Information system of the National Agency for
confiscated assets

23. Top financed soft interventions on confiscated assets
1.2 Million € on Study and Analysis on seized and confiscated assets in the
regions of the Convergence Objective

24. Top financed soft interventions on confiscated assets
0.5 Million € on HERMON - Geo-monitoring integrated system on confiscated
assets

25. 5.
Cohesion policy plan on
confiscated assets for
programming cycle 2014-2020

26. Confiscated Fixed Assets: Figures and Management
Critical Points
• Many assets still have to be allocated due to the presence of
critical factors: undivided shares, irregularities in the land
registration, irregular property use and need to maintenance or
renovation works
• Isolation of Municipalities: strong need of an ongoing professional
support in defining projects for social reuse of confiscated assets
involving local actors and generating entrepreneurial ideas
• Assets acquired by the State in many cases show no real
operational capacity due to increased management costs (regular
invoicing practices and compliance with labour rules),
conservative management, revocation of bank overdraft facilities,
relations with client/providers, O.

27. The Italian National Action Plan on Confiscated Assets
and Territorial Cohesion
• An operational instrument for a national response strategy to be
developed in three action pillars:
• Institutional management and cooperation capacity
• Welfare and Social Economy
• Real operation and economic development
• Relevance of citizens’ monitoring
• Transparency of information
• Best practices of management and social re-use

28. Thank you for your attention!
www.opencoesione.gov.it
info@opencoesione.gov.it