Europeanisation in the aftermath of COVID-19: the organisational adaptation of the central governance of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in Italy

Abstract While much of the recent literature on the impact of COVID-19 has focussed on governance at the EU level and specific policy areas, the changing political institutional arrangements within the EU Member States themselves have received significantly less attention. This article aims to contribute filling this gap by asking: how, and to what extent, has the core executive in Italy changed to manage and implement the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP)? Italy has been heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and has subsequently been allocated the largest proportion of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) funds: it is therefore a ‘most likely’ case of organisational adaptation. We argue that the implementation of the NRRP triggers centralisation of power in the core executive. Such concentration of power, however, takes different forms depending on the composition of the executive. We also find that ‘coordinative’ Europeanisation occurs through the continuous interaction and exchange between the executive actors (political and administrative) based in Rome and the European Commission in Brussels. Such interaction showcases the attempt to manage both further integration and politicisation of the EU. The collaboration between the European Commission and the national executive is based both on the recognition of the value of the political ownership of the NRRP and the importance of the EU support for post-pandemic recovery.