Background information

The Law Decree no. 137, issued on 28 October 2020, then converted into the Law no. 176, issued on 18 December 2020, established the creation of the Extraordinary Fund for the Third Sector. This Fund aims to provide additional financial resources to the organisations operating in the third and social sector whose activity has been affected by the COVID-19 emergency.

Content of measure

The Law Decree no. 137, issued on 28 October 2020 (article no. 13- quaterdecies), then converted into the Law no. 176, issued on 18 December 2020, established the creation of the Extraordinary Fund for the Third Sector at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. The Fund aims to financially sustain the activities of the organisations operating in the third sector, specifically:

• the organisations of voluntary work registered in the regional and provincial registers, as according to the Law no. 266, issued on 11 August 1991;
• the associations of social promotion registered in the national and regional registers, as well as of the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, as according to the law no. 383, issued on 7 December 2000;
• the not-for-profit organisations of social utility, registered in the relative registry, as according to the Legislative Decree no. 460, issued on 4 December 1997.

The Law Decree no. 137/2020 initially allocated a budget corresponding to €70 million for the year 2021. Given the prolonged COVID-19 emergency, the Law Decree no. 41, issued on 22 March 2021, the so-called “Support decree”, provided for additional extraordinary financial resources devoted to the Fund, adding €100 million for the year 2021.

Use of measure

Information are not available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

The social partners have not been involved.

Views and reactions

Given the nature of the measure, the social partners are expected to be supportive.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 22 March 2021: DECRETO-LEGGE 22 marzo 2021, n. 41 Misure urgenti in materia di sostegno alle imprese e agli operatori economici, di lavoro, salute e servizi territoriali, connesse all'emergenza da COVID-19 (www.gazzettaufficiale.it)