Subject: Irregularities in the use of national RRP funds in Campania: new hospital in Battipaglia
With ruling 2149/2024, Campania’s Regional Administrative Court annulled the regional decisions on the construction of a new hospital in Battipaglia, pointing to major issues in the management of funds under the ‘M6C2’ (innovation, research and digitalisation of the national health service) section of the national Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), as well as in regional health planning.
According to the court, the funds from the national RRP, which were meant to be used to ensure the seismic safety and energy efficiency of two existing hospitals, have been redirected towards the construction of a new facility without proper health planning and in breach of EU law (specifically, the Floods Directive 60/2007).
Among the issues highlighted, the decision seems to undermine joint decisions taken previously on the basis of a pre-feasibility study that identified Eboli as the optimal area.
The site chosen for construction is located in an area of high hydrogeological risk, which is contrary to the principle of ‘do no significant harm’ laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/241.
In view of the above:
1. What steps will the Commission take to ensure that the national RRP funds are used in compliance with the ‘do no significant harm’ principle and the EU sustainability and equity objectives?
2. What tools does it use to ensure that Member States’ health planning meets EU standards on fair access to care and environmental protection?
3. Will it launch checks on the management of the project to build a new hospital in Battipaglia in view of the irregularities highlighted in the regional court’s ruling?
Submitted: 9.12.2024
Answer given by Mr Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission (12 February 2025)
The Commission assesses the compliance of Italy’s Recovery and Resilience plan (RRP) measures against the ‘Do No Significant Harm’ (DNSH) principle based on analysis of documentation provided by the Italian authorities.
The assessment is done at the measure level. As a rule and without prejudice to its role as guardian of the Treaties, the Commission does not assess the environmental impact of specific projects within overall investment measures.
This is a primary responsibility of the Member States, which are requested to ensure compliance of specific projects with EU and national law, including the environmental acquis.
Given that the specific project mentioned above has been implemented exclusively through the National Complementary Fund (and not with Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) budget), no DNSH assessment has been undertaken by the Commission.
According to Article 168(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (1), Member States are responsible for the management of health services.
Principle 16 of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan (2) underscores the right to affordable, good-quality healthcare. The Commission supports Member States in upholding this principle through funding projects.
The works for this hospital, in the amount of EUR 23.5 million, are financed with national funds under the Piano Nazionale Complementare.
Based on the information at the disposal of the Commission, for the investment at stake, the RRF (EU) funds are being used for an amount of EUR 4 million exclusively for the purchase of equipment and digitalisation of hospitals for the Eboli-Battipaglia- Roccadaspida hospitals (as part of the investments M6C2 1.1.1. and M6C2 1.1.2 of the RRP of Italy).
1 ∙ ⸱ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=en
2 ∙ ⸱ https://op.europa.eu/webpub/empl/european-pillar-of-social-rights/en
| | ) For that reason, the Commission is not launching RRP-related checks on the construction project for a new hospital in Battipaglia.