Next Generation Labour: what the EU is asking to Italy and Spain

The paper aims at analyzing the articulated conditionality regime contemplated by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) which, especially in the field of social and labour policies, significantly affects the use of the financial resources allocated by the European Union, within the framework of the Next Generation EU (NGEU), in order to stem the severe macroeconomic impact triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. For this purpose, the constraints, targets, and milestones affecting Italy and Spain, two of the largest recipients of supranational financial assistance, will be examined in comparative terms. Moving from this analysis, an attempt will therefore be made to question the idea of the alleged de facto receivership of these countries, pointing out how they, while respecting certain identities and other physiological differences, are called upon to play a crucial role in the field of labour and social policies.