CDP EMILIA EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY PLAN II FL

On 20 and 29 May 2012, the Italian regions of Emilia Romagna, Lombardia and Veneto were affected by two strong seismic events with a magnitude, respectively, of 5.9 and 5.8 on the Richter scale. The Emilia Romagna region suffered the worst impact with 54 municipalities affected, in addition to the three provincial capitals of Modena, Reggio Emilia and Bologna. The seismic events resulted in severe damage to local public and private property, particularly housing, industrial, agricultural and agro-industrial activities, public buildings and essential infrastructure.

The project is a follow-up of a previous EIB operation: the global loan CDP EMILIA EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY GL (2012-0474) which was calibrated only on SMEs. This second operation will have an enlarged scope targeting urban/architectural reconstruction of private residential buildings/houses. As in the previous operation, the borrower will be CDP (Cassa Depositi e Prestiti) that will act as a financial intermediary in the concession of soft loans to eligible beneficiaries. The promoter is the Emilia Romagna region and the final beneficiaries are private households and enterprises. Final beneficiaries will have to comply with the eligibility rules and procedures established by the Emilia Romagna region as far as the verification of the damages and losses and the corresponding eligible amount are concerned.

The project will provide economic benefits generated by the restoration of suitable livelihood and business conditions that were damaged by the 2012 earthquake and, where justified, upgrade the seismic resilience of rehabilitated or reconstructed buildings so as to reduce the risk of damage from future events of similar magnitude. Longer-term measures, including seismic risk mapping and disaster preparedness studies may be carried out within the framework of relevant international coordination bodies and will comply with the requirements of the national and EU regulatory framework. In addition, the rehabilitation, renovation and reconstruction of residential and business buildings may also result in energy efficiency improvements and increased use of renewable energy sources.

Some of the emergency measures and/or rehabilitation, renovation or reconstruction of existing structures may fall under Annex I or Annex II of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (2011/92/EU), implying that the requirement for an EIA and the screening procedures are set by national legislation. Competent authorities are reported to have participated in and authorised the emergency works. For longer-term measures standard EIA procedures are expected to be undertaken. The application of appropriate environmental procedures will be assessed during appraisal.

Since the project concerns mainly the private sector, public procurement procedures are not expected to be applicable. Nevertheless, during appraisal, the Bank will verify satisfactory application of EU rules, in case public beneficiaries are included in the final list of beneficiaries.