>@Marco Santarelli/EIB
  • €30 million loan for four-year investment plan of this publicly-owned company (via the Ministry of Economy and Finance), which is overseen by the Prime Minister's Office
  • PagoPA’s remit is to make digital public services more amenable to the average person, thereby accelerating the adoption of innovative technology platforms by public administrations at central and local level
  • Among the projects that will benefit from this financing operation: IO (public services app), and pagoPA – the national platform for making e-payments to public administrations 

This has been one of the Italian government’s top priorities for at least three years. The government has decidedly sped up the process following the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this has now become a key pillar to aid the country’s recovery. Digitalisation of public administrations (PAs) and their relations with the country’s citizens and businesses have become the focus of the digital innovation measures contained in the “Simplifications” Decree Law approved by the Prime Minister's Office on 7 July. It is against this backdrop that the four-year investment plan of publicly-owned company PagoPA S.p.A. is receiving strong backing from the European Union’s bank.

That is the purpose of the €30 million finance agreement signed today between PagoPA S.p.A. and the European Investment Bank (EIB), equivalent to 50% of the 2020-2023 development programme of the wholly state-owned company (via the Ministry of Economy and Finance), which is directed and overseen by the Prime Minister's Office.

PagoPA S.p.A.’s mission is, via digital payments, the digital transformation of public services to make them more user-friendly, secure, transparent and accessible to better serve the needs of citizens. This will be achieved by managing the pagoPA platform for making e-payments to public administrations – which in the last 12 months alone – has seen more than 61 million payment transactions worth over €13 billion through the continuous development of innovative products such as the IO app, the single point of contact for digital public services.

The EIB has chosen to support these projects, which are all based on simplifying and making public administrations fully digitally accessible at central and local level, as part of a wider strategy to revive Italy’s economic system. The EIB considers that the operation meets multiple criteria in terms of financing priorities: this is a highly innovative project, which will be positive for the environment and will have a considerable impact in Cohesion Policy regions (southern Italy). Specifically, the IO app will enable digitalisation of all notifications between public authorities and Italian citizens, thus contributing to a more efficient and sustainable development model for Italian PAs, including in terms of climate action, with a reduction in CO2 emissions (less use of paper).

Innovation and Digitalisation Minister Paola Pisano expressed her satisfaction: “The agreement between the EIB and PagoPA will substantially help the publicly-owned company to expand and improve digital services for citizens. This is a step-up for the country’s digital transformation, which is more important than ever in the post-pandemic recovery phase. This EIB loan provides a fine example of how the EU institutions are supporting the European Union’s Member States to help them get back on track and modernise.”

EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco said: “The development of digital networks and related services has for many years been a priority under the EU bank’s financing policy. This is a key objective for harmonious economic and social development, the importance of which has become even more obvious due to what occurred during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why I am very pleased that the EIB can support PagoPA in its mission, which will see the company work for and alongside citizens and businesses during the current process of modernising public administration.

Since it was set up in July 2019, our company has grown rapidly, achieving impressive results ahead of schedule in our development plan. We have positioned ourselves as an expert partner in support of governing bodies, making strategic evaluations in the digital sector that impact people’s lives”, stated PagoPA S.p.A’s CEO Giuseppe Virgone. “The support that we have received from the EIB is a source of pride and provides important recognition for the value of our projects to the state, which will enable us to further step up the provision of digital public services that are increasingly accessible to the people.” 

PagoPA S.p.A. is an e-payments platform created to simplify and make more secure and transparent any payments that need to be made to public administrations. It is a different, more natural and immediate way for people to make payments to public administrations, the use of which helps the country to cut costs.