It is a policy that promotes the economic, territorial and social cohesion, reduces the disparities in terms of development among regions and makes the opportunities of citizens even. In Italy, Cohesion Policy is implemented throughout the country, albeit with differing intensity depending on the region and is financed by additional resources from the EU (with the principle of additionality to ordinary funds for public investment) and the national budget (co-funding to the EU Structural Funds, national Fund for Development and Cohesion and other dedicated funds).

Cohesion policy is implemented by central government bodies and regional governments through Plans and Programmes, with central coordination of the Department for cohesion policy and the Agency for Territorial Cohesion.

Within the European multiannual budget, cohesion policies co-financed by European resources are programmed for seven-year periods starting from 2000-2006. On the OpenCoesione portal, the data on the projects in progress relating to the 2007-2013, 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 programming periods are currently available in an open and navigable format. In relation to the 2000-2006 programming period, on OpenCoesione are monitored only those projects originally financed in this cycle and therefore transferred within the Development and Cohesion Plans. These can be filtered through a selection menu available starting from the publication of the data updated to 28th February 2023.

According to the financial rules valid for the European Funds, the effective duration of the seven-year programming periods is extended by a further 2 or 3 years (the so-called "n + 2" rule for the 2007-2013 and 2021-2027 periods, the "n + 3” rule for the 2014-2020 period). In these final phases, the implementation of the projects of the Programmes co-financed by the EU Cohesion Funds overlaps with the start of the next programming period.

The implementation of projects financed by entirely national resources (Development and Cohesion Fund and Cohesion Action Plan) takes place in continuity between the various programming periods.

The European Structural Funds are financial instruments offered by the EU, to varying degrees based on the territory, to support cohesion policy. European funding, with a national co-financing requirement, is allocated in the EU multi-year budget for the seven-year cycle starting with the 2000-2006 period.

The Structural Funds (SF) for the 2007-2013 period are the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). In the 2014-2020 period the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) include in addition the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). In the 2021-2027 period the ESI Funds are completed by the Just Transition Fund (JTF) while the European Social Fund (ESF) is replaced by the ESF Plus (ESF+).

The ERDF supports programmes that focus on regional development, improving competitiveness, and investing in research and sustainable development, as well as European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) projects. The ESF+ is the European Union's main instrument for investing in people, jobs, society, education and skills and brings together four funding instruments that were separated in the 2014-2020 programming period: the European Social Fund (ESF), the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), the Youth Employment Initiative and the European Program for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). The EAFRD supports European rural development policy and, to this aim, finances rural development programmes carried out in all Member States and regions of the Union; the EMFF contributes to sustainable fisheries and economic development in European coastal regions. The JTF aims to provide support to territories facing serious socio-economic challenges arising from the transition to climate neutrality. Other funds are those for asylum and migration (AMIF), internal security (ISF) and border and visa management (BMVI).

On the OpenCoesione portal, the projects financed with the resources attributed to the EAFRD and EMFF funds are not displayed, although they are available in the open data section.

The Structural Funds are implemented by Managing Authorities (i.e. Administrations in charge of managing the allocated funds) through Operational Programmes which, in the various programming periods, can have a national (PON) or regional (POR) or international (CTE Programmes) scale. In 2007-2013, there were also Operational Programs on an Interregional scale (POIN) in Italy.

Certification of expenditure to the EU corresponds to applications for repayment of expenses incurred that are submitted to the European Commission by the government bodies administrations sponsoring the programmes co-financed by the Structural Funds. These applications, for each annual accounting of the resources committed in the EU budget for each Fund (ESF, ERDF) and Operational Programme, are to be presented within a specific period of time, established specifically for each programming period. The resources that are not certified to the Commission by the deadline are subject to automatic decommitment, i.e. a reduction in EU financing and the corresponding national co-financing of the programme. In the 2007-2013 cycle, to encourage implementation of the Operational Programmes co-financed by the Structural Funds, Italy established during the National Strategic Framework Committee meeting of 9 April 2013 the national infra-annual targets for expenses actually incurred and certified. Therefore, in addition to 31 December of each year, certified expenditure is also monitored at 31 May and 31 October.

You can find more information here on the rules for certifying expenditure of the Structural Funds to the EU for the 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 programming cycles. You can also learn about the difference between certified and monitored expenditure.

Go here to download open data on total funding, targets and expenditure certified to the EU.

Major Projects are investments financed through the European Structural Funds to achieve broader strategic goals and that receive more than €50 million in financial support (or, for the 2014-2020 cycle, €75 million for projects that contribute to Thematic Objective 7 – “Promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures”). There are two primary types of projects within this theme: investment in infrastructure (e.g. railways, urban rail transport, ports, highways, water treatment systems and water networks, major restoration works and ultra-broadband) and investment in production (aid for the development of major industrial plants).

Financial instruments are not considered Major Projects.

For the 2014-2020 period, the key regulation is Regulation (EU) No. 1303/2013 (Articles 100-103), while for the 2007-2013 cycle it is Regulation (EC) No. 1083/2006 (Articles 39-41). Important technical and operational instructions for Major Projects can also be found in various subsequent EU rules and legislation, including the guidelines on the closure of operational programmes for 2007-2013, annexed to Decision C(2015) 2771 (for the rules applicable to Major Projects not completed in 2007-2013 and, specifically, for those that span across to the 2012-2020 programming, see this FAQ).

Unlike “ordinary” projects of programmes co-financed by the Structural Funds, which are automatically chosen and approved for financing by the Managing Authority of the operational programme, Major Projects are subject to specific procedures for approval by the European Commission that envisage a long, complex review process that is carried out in close cooperation with various Commission bodies. During this process, numerous factors of interest to the EU are assessed including, in addition to general eligibility, an analysis of the costs and benefits and financial return, environmental compatibility and compliance with the applicable directives, and consistency with the internal market and competition rules, including the existence of any state aid. The process concludes with the Commission’s decision of approval, which ratifies the essential technical characteristics, eligible expenditure and multi-year financial plan and assigns the Major Project a common code for identification (CCI), analogous to that assigned to Programmes co-financed with Structural Funds. In the case of any changes or additions to a Major Project in the course of implementation, the same process must be followed to receive a new decision from the Commission.

For monitoring purposes, a Major Project can be monitored as a single project or as different projects, based on the characteristics of the specific Major Project. In the open data catalogues of projects being implemented, projects belonging to a Major Project are identified by the variable COD_GRANDE_PROGETTO, to which the CCI of the Major Project is added (see metadata).

The Performance Framework (on the efficacy of implementation) is a tool introduced in the 2014-2020 programming cycle in order to enhance the efficacy of implementation of cohesion-policy programmes that are co-financed with European funding (Articles 21 and 22 of Regulation (EC) 1303/2013).

It is based on a system of indicators defined at the priority-axis level for each Operational Programme and mainly measures financial implementation and actual implementation of the operations. There is also an indicator that measures the key implementation steps, and the framework was used to verify the 2018 intermediate milestones for those operations that, when defining the programme, were expected to be completed after 2018 (date of the intermediate review).

For all indicators, there are two targets: an intermediate milestone for 2018 and a final target for 2023.

The method for defining the Performance Framework is described in Annex II of Regulation (EC) 1303/2013 and, for Italy, is detailed under section 2.4 of the Partnership Agreement.

In 2019, the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, will be conducting the intermediate performance review and assigning the performance reserve to the axes that have reached their milestones. Unsatisfactory levels of progress towards the milestones and final targets may also result in sanctions (suspension of payments in 2019 and financial adjustments in 2025). The intermediate and final reviews of the Performance Framework are based on the information and assessments provided in the annual progress reports presented by the Managing Authorities (by 30 June 2019 and 30 June 2024, respectively), which, in Italy, must fully match the data from the National Monitoring System, the source for the OpenCoesione portal.

The date of 31 December 2013, which corresponds in theory to the end of the 2007-2013 programming cycle, did not coincide with the actual deadline for implementation of projects for programmes co-financed by the European Structural Funds in the 2007-2013. Based on the existing “n+2” rule  implementation rules for the EU budget the implementaion of the cycle go on doing following two years, i.e. until 31 December 2015, which is the last date on which the payments actually incurred by the beneficiaries in respect of projects/operations could be charged to the EU budget. The financial contribution of the EU budget to the 2007-2013 Programs remained usable for another two years after 31 December 2013. An exception to this are the Financial Engineering Instruments (to which specific rules apply) for which the final date for payment to the final recipients was 31 March 2017. 

In general, therefore, December 31, 2015 was the deadline for making payments from community resources for the 2007-2013 cycle. To complete the projects that were still unfinished and inoperative on that date, two possibilities emerged:

1. the projects meets certain requirements, described elsewhere, and therefore can be completed even with the EU resources of the 2014-2020 cycle. Such projects are also inserted in the 2014-2020 programmes and therefore receive financing that, for the EU portion, includes both 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 resources, 

2. the projects do not meet the requirements and therefore must be completed using only the resources of the Member State (national, regional or local). The share of expenditure already incurred on the 2007-2013 EU programmes by 31 December 2015 may continue to be deemed eligible if the project is actually completed by the deadline indicated, i.e. by the deadline for submission of the final programme closure documents (31 March 2017) or by 31 March 2019 for “non-functioning” projects, i.e. those not completed and in use at the time of submission of the final programme closure documents.

The following is a brief list of the requirements for including in the 2014-2020 programming cycle projects already financed in 2007-2013:

- for Major Projects (which, for the 2007-2013 cycle, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 1083/2006, are investments for which the total cost exceeds €50 million, characterized by indivisible tasks of an economic or technical nature, for which the specific approval of the Commission is needed):

· the project must not have been approved by the Commission as a Major Project in the 2000-2006 programming period as well;

· the project must be divisible into two phases that are clearly identifiable from a material and financial standpoint in order for the second phase of the project to be eligible for 2014-2020 Structural Funds;

· an application to modify the Major Project must be made to reduce the funding for the 2007-2013 period (first phase) while at the same time maintaining the original general objective, which is therefore to be achieved during the 2014-2020 period, at the end of the second phase of the project;

- for all other projects (except Financial Engineering Instruments, which are not divisible into phases):

· the project must not have been chosen by the Member State in the 2000-2006 programming period;

· the total cost of the project must be equal to or greater than €5 million;

· the project must be divisible into two phases that are clearly identifiable from a material and financial standpoint in order for the second phase of the project to be eligible for 2014-2020 Structural Funds.

In both cases the second phase of the project must meet the eligibility requirements for funding from the Structural Funds in the 2014-2020 period.

Further details are found in the Annex to the Commission Decision on the approval of the guidelines on the closure of operational programmes adopted for assistance from the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund (2007-2013).

The Development and Cohesion Fund (Fondo per lo Sviluppo e la Coesione - FSC) is a financial instrument funded with national additional resources through which the Italian government implements the principle of territorial cohesion enshrined in Article 119 of the Constitution. The Fund, previously denominated the Fund for Underutilised Areas (Fondo per le aree sottoutilizzate - FAS), was established with the 2003 Finance Act (Article 61 of Law 289/2002) with the aim of ensuring an organic planning and financial structure for the national additional resources appropriated to achieve economic and social balance among the various areas of the country.

More specifically, the Fund finances special State initiatives and the disbursement of special grants for infrastructure and intangible assets of national, inter-regional and regional importance, implemented through major projects or investments structured into functionally connected individual initiatives. The resources of the Fondo per lo Sviluppo e la Coesione are 80% directed to the South and 20% to the Center-North, more details go here.

Projects implemented under the Development and Cohesion Fund are included in the Unitary Monitoring System and monitored in OpenCoesione together with projects implemented under the European Structural Funds (SF) and the Cohesion Action Plan. 

The FSC is also associated with financial grants approved by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning (Comitato Interministeriale per la Programmazione Economica - CIPE), which are comparable to policy appropriations. On the open data section of the OpenCoesione website are available Data and metadata on the funding and on the decisions approving the 2014-2020 FSC Plans and Programmes, as well as the Data and metadata on the funding and on the decisions approving the 2007-2013 FSC Programmes.

The Cohesion Action Plan (Piano d’Azione per la Coesione - PAC) was launched in 2011 as a measure to accelerate the implementation of programmes co-financed by the 2007-2013 Structural Funds and boost the effectiveness of the interventions. The PAC is funded with national resources generated by the reduction of the rate of national co-financing of the Operational Programmes and by resources that have been reprogrammed through the internal replanning of those Programmes.

For more information, go here.

The Development and Cohesion Plan (PSC) represents an instrument, introduced during 2014-2020 and envisaged by article 44 of Legislative Decree 34/2019 and subsequent amendments, aimed at harmonization of the planning of resources relating to the Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC, former Fund for Underutilized Areas FAS) relating to three programming periods, 2014-2020, 2007-2013 and 2000-2006.

The 43 Development and Cohesion Plans identified during the 2014-2020 period (the complete list is available in the programming section) therefore replace the previous programming instruments of the FSC, such as Development Pacts, Regional Implementation Programmes, Regional Implementation, Service Objectives and Programme Agreements.

The projects initially monitored through these tools are being migrated to the new Development and Cohesion Plans.

The PSC instrument is also confirmed in the national programming system of the Development and Cohesion Fund for the 2021-2027 period, during which additional Development and Cohesion Plans are identified.

Cohesion policy resources are allocated on a geographical basis, giving priority to less developed areas. 

As regards European resources, regions with per capita GDP of less than 75% of the EU average are the largest recipients of funds through projects to foster their growth and convergence. During the programming periods, Italian regions have been divided into “Objective 1/Objective 2” regions (until 2000-2006), “Convergence/Competitiveness” regions (in 2007-2013), and “Less-developed/Transition/More-developed” regions (in 2014-2020 and 2021-2027).

In 2007-2013, the “Convergence” regions were Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily, with Basilicata receiving transitional support. All of the others were “Competitiveness” regions.

In 2014-2020, the “Less-developed” regions are Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily; Abruzzo, Molise and Sardinia are “Transition” regions, while the “More-developed” regions are Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Piedmont, Tuscany, Valle d’Aosta, Veneto, Umbria and the Autonomous Provinces of Bolzano and Trento.

In 2021-2027, the "Less developed regions" are Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily; Abruzzo, Marche and Umbria are the "Regions in transition" while the "Most developed regions" are Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto and the Autonomous Provinces of Bolzano and of Trento. As regards cohesion policy financed with national resources, the classification criteria does not change compared to the previous period.

For national resources, the regions are classified on a geographical basis, grouped into “Southern Italy” (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily) and “Centre-North” (all others).

OpenCoesione offers access to navigable and downloadable open-format data on the implementation of cohesion policies in Italy, drawn from projects financed under the European Structural Funds, the National Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC) and the Cohesion Action Plan (PAC). More specifically, the information includes data on resources allocated and actual spent, location, thematic areas, planning authorities and implementing authorities, the implementation timetable for individual projects and the associated bimonthly series of cumulative payments. 

OpenCoesione also provides downloadable information on the cohesion policy context, ranging from data on the funding of 2007-2013 Operational Programmes and the expenditure certified to the European Union, to information on the awards to specific projects by the CIPE drawing on the Development and Cohesion Fund and information on the situation in the areas in which the projects are being implementing, with territorial and thematic indicators and the data on the Regional Public Accounts.

Attention! Only a selection of the information connected with cohesion policies that can be downloaded in open data format can be consulted using interactive visualisations on the website. For more information, go here.

Currently, the data available in open and navigable format on the OpenCoesione website regard the 2007-2013 cycle, implementation of which ended in 2015. Detailed information on the closure rules is available in the dedicated FAQ section.   

It is also possible to consult aggregate published information on the Operational Programmes - ERDF,ESF, FSC and PAC – in the Programmes pages, which can be accessed through the main menu under Projects. These pages also offer access to documentation and links to the websites of the government bodies involved and, in the sections devoted to “All ERDF and ESF programmes”, charts showing developments in monitored expenditure. 

For the 2014-2020 programming cycle, OpenCoesione currently has an online section, which can be accessed from the website’s home page, providing a breakdown of total resources appropriated for the various areas and the pages – progressively updated – devoted to the main reference documentation (Partnership Agreement, Programmes), the funding opportunities  offered by the Programmes,  the tenders and competitions  associated with the financed projects and the lists of projects/operations approved for funding under the Programmes co-financed with ESI funds.

The Programmes whose Managing Authority is not an Italian administration are not displayed.

As regards 2007-2013, there are no data on the projects being implemented under the objective of the European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), also known by the name of "Interreg" (more details here).

OpenCoesione does not provide information on misconduct in respect of cohesion policy projects: at the European level, the regulations foresee specific procedures for managing misconduct, i.e. generic violations of provisions that adversely impact the Community finances for which the EU seeks restitution of amounts unduly disbursed. The body dedicated to highlighting fraud and judicial cases on the beneficiaries of the Structural Funds is OLAF, which however only publishes aggregate data (http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/index_it.htm). 

OpenCoesione is for everyone: the public, government officials, experts, innovation entrepreneurs, researchers and journalists. The goal is to give everyone access to data and other information to assess the effectiveness and consistency of the use of cohesion policy resources.

Discover OpenCoesione through documentation and videos on the initiative.

Follow OpenCoesione by signing up for the newsletter.

Encourage OpenCoesione by actively contributing to participation and reuse initiatives.

Go here to send ideas, advice, reports and examples of reuse (applications, services, research) based on OpenCoesione data.

The projects in OpenCoesione regard actions financed under cohesion policy and are identified by an autonomous administrative instrument (for example, a tender, a classification, an agreement, a contract, etc.). In certain cases, multiple projects may form part of a single intervention or are coordinated among themselves as part of a single intervention strategy. Since cohesion policy affects highly diverse sectors, projects may have very different financial resources, territorial scope and thematic contents. They may regard major infrastructure projects or an individual beneficiary receiving aid or some other form of support (vouchers, for example). Another source of diversity among projects is associated with the different monitoring procedures adopted by the government bodies involved, which have a degree of discretion in identifying an individual project among a variety of interventions.

Each project is assigned a Single Project Code (Codice Unico di Progetto - CUP).

Information on projects being implemented on the website includes selected data that can be downloaded in open data format, which in turn represent a subset of the information provided for by the Unitary Monitoring System.

The website is thus the first example of reuse of the complete datasets published on OpenCoesione in order to provide all users, and not just practitioners, with an interactive guide to navigate the complexity of the data on projects financed by cohesion policies. The website’s functions include the visualisation of a fact sheet for each project and the application of filters (theme/nature/programme/value/year/source) to facilitate searches for specific sets of projects. In addition, the website provides – in association with the various queries posed by users – the list of projects with the greatest funding, the most recent projects completed and the municipalities that have received the greatest per capita funding.

OpenCoesione also gives users suggestions about projects that could be considered “similar” to the one they are viewing if they are located in the same area, using four criteria:

• projects with the same thematic classification (metadata fields: oc_tema_sintetico and qsn_descr_tema_prioritario_ue)

• projects of the same nature as the intervention (metadata fields: cup_descr_natura and cup_descr_tipologia)

• projects with the same planning authority

• projects with the same implementing authority

Attention! Some of the projects published on OpenCoesione have extra information available above and beyond that from the variables selected from the website’s data sources. It comes from open data published by other bodies, which OpenCoesione uses to enrich the project fact sheet displayed.  For example, this is the case of the summaries of the interventions associated with the National Operational Programme Governance and Technical Assistance ERDF 2007-2013 and the National Operational Programme Research and Competitiveness ERDF 2007-2013. In these cases, the project fact sheet also contains links to the original data source.

For projects being implemented, OpenCoesione provides a subset of the information provided for by the Unitary Monitoring System concerning the cost and financial state of progress of the project, its sectoral or thematic scope, where it is being implemented, the entities or persons involved, the implementation timetable and the bimonthly time series of cumulative payments.

The level of detail and comprehensiveness of the data may differ due to inconsistencies in the data or the patchy uploading of data to the Unitary Monitoring System by the bodies involved.

The data on projects, accompanied by the associated metadata, can be downloaded from the open data page in “rough” database form and reprocessed in CSV format and as the result of ad hoc queries created using the filters (e.g. theme, territory and type of intervention) available on OpenCoesione.

The four datasets “projects/locations/entities/payments” available on the open data page under “All OpenCoesione projects” contain the data for all the projects being implemented that are available on the website, financed with Structural Funds, the National Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC) and the Cohesion Action Plan (PAC). Projects under more than one programming area are included in a single record in the dataset that contains all the information on the various programming areas to which the project refers. The number of projects in these datasets therefore coincides with the total number of projects indicated on the homepage of OpenCoesione. The data are available in a single “national” dataset or broken down by region in which the project is located. 

Attention! Projects located in more than one region are included in all the associated regional datasets and can be identified with the flag variable “oc_flag_regione_unica".

The data on projects by programming area can be read with the help of the “oc_cod_fonte” variable, which identifies projects on the basis of funding sources (not necessarily mutually exclusive): projects financed with Structural Funds, projects of the Cohesion Action Plan (PAC) included in the PAC programmes and/or Community programmes and those financed by the National Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC). For a detailed description of the definition of the variables and the values they can have, see the metadata file accompanying the dataset.

If a user is interested in one or more specific programming areas, the OpenCoesione project data can also be downloaded broken down by area, taking account of the fact that in this case projects in more than one programming area are repeated in the associated individual datasets:

the four datasets “projects/locations/entities/payments” available in the “European Structural Funds 2007/2013” section contain the data for projects being implemented with financing from the European Structural Funds 2007/2013. The data are available in a single “national” dataset or broken down by region in which the project is located. Attention! Projects located in more than one region are included in all the associated regional datasets can be identified with the flag variable “dps_flag_regione_unica".

the four datasets “projects/locations/entities/payments” available in the “Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC) 2007/2013” section contain the data for projects being implemented with financing from the National Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC). The data are only available in a single “national” dataset. 

the four datasets “projects/locations/entities/payments” available in the “Cohesion Action Plan” section contain the data for projects financed under the Cohesion Action Plan (PAC). The data are only available in a single “national” dataset. 

Attention! The data downloaded from the open data page contain more variables than those visualised in the website’s project fact sheets and the CSV results of queries on the website. In the latter case, in order to enable immediate and consistent interpretation of the search, the downloaded file returns a narrower set of variables than that available in the complete files. 

For projects funded by the European Structural Funds, the National Development and Cohesion Fund and the Cohesion Action Plan for the programming periods 2007-2013, 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 the source is the Unitary Monitoring System, which is populated using common protocols (more information here) by the bodies running the programmes and managed by the Inspectorate-General for Financial Relationships with the European Union (IGRUE) of the State General Accounting Department (Ragioneria Generale dello Stato - RGS).

Regional and central government bodies that manage funds are therefore the main source of the information provided through OpenCoesione. Nevertheless, the data do undergo some processing to facilitate use and consistency. These variables are identified in the published open format datasets with the OC_ prefix.

It is possible to download the open data and the associated metadata on cohesion policy projects here.

The OpenCoesione website publishes the data on projects under way that have been financed with cohesion policy funds (2007-2013, 2014-2020 and 2021-2027) contained in the Unitary Monitoring System operated by RGS-IGRUE. During the administrative closure of Operational Programmes co-financed with European Structural Funds in the 2007-2013 period, as from the update of the data as at 31 December 2016, the publications take into account the progressive adjustment of the data and are intended provide as much as possible consistent and representative visualisation of cohesion policy actions.

Nella fase di chiusura amministrativa dei Programmi Operativi cofinanziati con Fondi Strutturali europei del ciclo 2007-2013, a partire dall’aggiornamento dei dati al 31 dicembre 2016, vengono adottate delle modalità di pubblicazione che, tenuto conto del progressivo assestamento dei dati, sono volte a restituire la lettura più coerente e rappresentativa possibile dell’intervento delle politiche di coesione.

More specifically, a new function has been introduced that permits the default visualisation of data and calculations for the set of projects net of certain projects that, while indicated as “active” in the Unitary Monitoring System, are slated for deactivation in the subsequent bimonthly updates by the various bodies involved as they are duplicates of other active projects or have never actually been launched in the Operational Programmes. Accordingly, those projects are systematically excluded from all visualisation and calculations on the website, such as, for example, those reported on the home page and the pages aggregated by nature, theme, territory and programme.

Search results also return by default lists aligned with visualisations and calculations, showing only “published projects”. However, in order to ensure maximum transparency in respect of the contents of the Unitary Monitoring System, the data on projects in the process of deactivation can be included in the list of results using the new filter “Visualisation” and selecting “Excluded projects”.

In addition, in order to ensure full consistency with RGS-IGRUE bulletins on the monitoring of Community initiatives, the projects excluded from the visualisations and calculations are in any case included in the universe of All OpenCoesione projects published in the open data section: to that end, the data structure of the “Projects” dataset of the open data catalogues classifies the excluded projects using a value for the new variable “OC_FLAG_VISUALIZZAZIONE” other than 0. This means that to reconstruct the totals for the tallies published on the website using the open data, it is necessary to select all the projects for which the variable “OC_FLAG_VISUALIZZAZIONE” is equal to 0.

The number of monitored projects represents the total number of projects currently being implemented in the reference two-month period. Projects whose monitoring is expected to be deactivated from the National Monitoring System are excluded from this counting. All monitored projects are displayed and navigable on the portal OpenCoesione.

No, they are two distinct information systems while maintaining, at the same time, an unitary information system that has evolved in continuity with respect to the main variables observed.

Consult here the technical documents.

Starting from the update of the data monitored on 31/10/2022, the OpenCoesione portal makes available for the first time the data relating to the first “stralcio” assignments on the FSC 2021-2027 approved by CIPESS even in the absence of the new BDU 2021-2027. All programs deriving from these assignments are therefore re-associated with the 2021-2027 programming period, even if monitored in the 2014-2020 BDU.

On the other hand, and starting from the update of the monitored data on 02/28/2019 on the OpenCoesione portal, the following Programmes, whose projects have been monitored with the information system of the 2014-2020 period, are correctly re-associated with the 2007-2013 programming period:

• Naples ring road connection

• Rome urban security plan

• FSC resources for the Municipalities

Together, the following Programmes monitored with the information system of the 2007-2013 period are correctly re-associated with the 2014-2020 programming period:

• 2016ABAMPSAP01 - PRIORITY PLAN FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS ABRUZZO REGION

• 2016EMAMPSAP02 - PRIORITY PLAN FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS REGION OF EMILIA ROMAGNA

• 2016LIAMPSAP03 - PRIORITY PLAN FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS REGION OF LIGURIA

• 2016LOAMPSAP06 - PRIORITY PLAN FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS IN LOMBARDY

• 2016 SAAMPSAP04 - PRIORITY PLAN FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS REGION OF SARDINIA

• 2016TOAMPSAP05 - PRIORITY PLAN FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS REGION OF TUSCANY

• 2016VEAMPSAP07 - PRIORITY PLAN FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS REGION OF VENETO

The aforementioned programmes have merged into the FSC hydrogeological instability Plan.

European territorial cooperation is a central element for the setting up of a common European space and represents a pillar of European integration, bringing the clear added value in various aspects: ensure that borders do not become barriers, brings European citizens together, promotes the joint solution for common problems, facilitates the sharing of ideas and good practices and encourages strategic collaboration to achieve common objectives.

European territorial cooperation programmes, funded by the ERDF, promote collaboration between regional and local administrations to solve common problems by the means of the exchange of experiences, the establishing of networks and the implementation of joint projects.

The Italian territories are eligible and are participating in 19 European territorial cooperation programmes. Department for the cohesion Policy of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and Agency for Territorial Cohesion are the Italian National Authorities and the referent bodlies for the EU Commission.

In the section of the OpenCoesione portal dedicated to programming, it is possible to consult the list of the ETC Programmes under monitoring in the 2014-2020 period (7) and in the 2021-2027 period (10).

The Unique Project Code (CUP) identifies a public investment project and consists of a 15-character alphanumeric string. It is one of the main classification features adopted in order to ensure the transparency and traceability of public financial flows and is also a variable recorded in the National Monitoring System of the cohesion policies. On the OpenCoesione portal, the CUP is reported as the first information indicated in the column of each project sheet, and it is used as a key for projects' search.

The CUP request is mandatory for all operations financed with national and EU public funds, therefore - with reference to cohesion policies - both the European Structural and Investment Funds, the National Fund for Development and Cohesion and the funds of the Plan of Action and Cohesion.

The CUP is released upon request and following the filling out of several data concerning the public investment project within the CUP System. Some of these data, such as the nature, type or sector of intervention, are reported on the OpenCoesione portal. It is possible to consult the metadata to find out which are the variables coming from the CUP information kit.

The data of the CUP are available in open format on the OpenCUP portal. In the portal it is possible to consult and perform the search on all the investment projects connected to CUP whose nature is public works, grants or contributions for disasters.

The data for the 2007-2013 programming cycle published on the OpenCoesione website are gradually being reviewed following the administrative and accounting closures of the Operational Programmes financed by the European Structural Funds 2007-2013 (see the FAQ on closure rules). More specifically, the review involves the projects associated with those programmes and their financial plans in order to ensure full conformity of the totals for those plans with the financial resources allocated to each programme.

The review may result in the division of certain projects over two programming periods (“spanning projects”, see RGS-IGRUE Circular no. 61216 of 31/03/2017) or the deactivation of monitoring by the Managing Authority of projects no longer allocable to those programmes, with the concomitant activation of other programming categories and the associated funding from other sources.

The review of the data also envisages the correction of certain anomalies that have been reported to the government bodies responsible for the programmes, with a view to progressively resolving the inconsistencies.

To take account of this review process, as from the update at December 31, 2016, the OpenCoesione portal has adopted publication approaches designed to produce a visualisation of cohesion policy action that is as consistent and representative as possible (see the FAQ on which projects are displayed on OpenCoesione)

The entry of data related to the project implementation into the National Monitoring System is done separately and in parallel by the Managing Authorities of various programmes.

The update of data at 31/10/2019 completes the picture of project monitoring from all the ERDF and ESF Operational Programmes, including the European Territorial Cooperation Programs (ETC) and excludes, albeit temporarily, the preliminary information on projects financed with resources from the European Agricultural Fund for rural development (EAFRD) on which technical studies are still in progress for the correct feeding of the National Monitoring System.

The OpenCoesione website has a list of the funding opportunities offered to potential beneficiaries of the programmes financed under cohesion policy for the 2014-2020 cycle.

The list consists of a standardised-format collection of the information published by the bodies running Operational Plans and Programmes co-financed with ESI funds and is gradually being extended to all plans and programmes financed by cohesion policy sources (the list of sources is here).

The opportunities, which are broken down into “under way” and “expired”, are reported in chronological order of expiry, beginning with those nearest the deadline for submission of project proposals. If more than one opportunity expires on the same date, they are presented in order of programme and so in decreasing order of size.

Nevertheless, some funding opportunities do not have a specified expiry and remain open until the available funds are used: these opportunities are designated as “rolling” in the Opportunity Type column and reported at the bottom of the table together with pre-information notices, which are also identified in the same column.

All of the columns can be reorganised, depending on user preference, in increasing or decreasing order, such as by the programme offering the opportunity, by publication date, by funding available for the initiatives and by type (deadline, rolling, pre-information).

It is also possible to search for opportunities using the free-text search engine, which operates over the entire list regardless of the number of rows visualised, using multiple search terms. For example, to look for opportunities whose title contains the word “innovation” published by the Region of Calabria with a specified deadline, users can use three search terms: innovation, Calabria and deadline. Since the search is based on the exact text entered in the search field, it is recommended that users begin with general terms and refine their search subsequently.

The data in the list, which is generally updated every two weeks, are also available in open format in a .CSV file published on the same page with the list of opportunities and in the open data section of the website, which also contains other variables concerning the fund, the type of beneficiary and the theme for each opportunity.

Starting from the update as of 30th June 2022, OpenCoesione portal releases data relating to the Development and Cohesion Plans (PSC) identified during the 2014-2020 programming period. The availability and the update of PSCs in the National Monitoring System is an activity that foresees the elimination of projects from the previous initial FSC Plans or Programmes and the simultaneous inclusion in the new PSCs, where the monitoring of their implementation is foreseen to continue.

This activity, carried out by each administration with the support of IGRUE and Agency for Territorial Cohesion, is differentiated over time for each individual PSC. Until the migration in the National Monitoring System is completed, the framework of projects and financial resources in each PSC published on OpenCoesione is partial, excluding the update to December 31, 2022 for which this data is not published due to an extraordinary maintenance activity of the System.

In the summary pages of the portal for each PSC, the migration current status is indicated as well as those plans or programmes representing the origin for the projects not yet migrated. In addition to the projects that will undergo the migration process, each PSC can be populated with projects from European programmes of the 2014-2020 period following the COVID-19 emergency response strategy with cohesion policies, and new projects financed with the PSC's own resources.

According to the data update as at 28 February 2023, there are 21 Programmes for which the migration is still in progress:

- 13 relate to the 2014-2020 period, namely ABRUZZO AGREEMENT, BASILICATA AGREEMENT, EMILIA-ROMAGNA REGION PSC, CITY OF BARI AGREEMENT, CITY OF BOLOGNA AGREEMENT, CITY OF CATANIA AGREEMENT, CITY OF FLORENCE AGREEMENT, CITY OF GENOA AGREEMENT, CITY OF MESSINA, CITY PACT OF MILAN, CITY PACT OF NAPLES, CITY PACT OF PALERMO, CITY PACT OF VENICE;

- 8 relating to the 2007-2013 period, namely PAR BOLZANO, PAR ABRUZZO, PRA ABRUZZO, ABRUZZO SERVICE TARGETS, PRA BASILICATA, BASILICATA SERVICE TARGETS, PAR EMILIA-ROMAGNA, SPECIAL IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM FOR THE 2012 EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION.

For grants approved by the Interministerial Committee on Economic Planning (Comitato Interministeriale per la Programmazione Economica - CIPE) funded with resources from the Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC), the source is the CIPE resolutions registered by the Court of Auditors. The data available on the OpenCoesione website regard resolutions issued between 2009 and October 2012 and are supplemented by associating the intervention with the OpenCoesione theme.

For the programme funding and expenditure certified to the EU for the purpose of reimbursement of the portion financed by the European Structural Funds, the data source is the Managing Authority of the individual Operational Programmes.

For territorial and thematic statistical indicators  that enable assessment of how resources are being used to meet territorial needs, the data source is the ISTAT database.

For information on cash flows (current and capital revenue and expenditure flows) of general government and the extended public sector, the source is the Regional Public Accounts (RPA), which since 1996 produce annual regional data by sector of intervention, level of government and economic category.

To download the open data and the associated metadata on the cohesion policy context, go here.

Yes, the data downloaded in the open data section contain a larger number of variables than those visualised in the portal’s project fact sheets and in the CSV results from the queries on the website. In the latter case, in order to enable immediate and consistent interpretation of the search, the downloaded file returns a narrower set of variables than that available in the complete files

Yes, some of the projects published on OpenCoesione have extra information available above and beyond that from the variables selected from the website’s data sources. It comes from open data published by other bodies, which OpenCoesione uses to enrich the project fact sheet displayed. For example, this is the case of the summaries of the interventions associated with the National Operational Programme Governance and Technical Assistance ERDF 2007-2013 and the National Operational Programme Research and Competitiveness ERDF 2007-2013. In these cases, the project fact sheet also contains links to the original data source.

In addition to the ordinary monitoring data on projects funded under cohesion policy, thanks to an agreement with the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (Ministero dell’istruzione, dell’università e della ricerca - MIUR), OpenCoesione also contains information on the total number of students, teachers and adults that effectively attended training courses by subject matter, amounts by type of infrastructure intervention financed and other information on interventions and schools involved. The data regard projects managed by the MIUR as the Managing Authority for the National Operational Programme (NOP) of the European Social Fund (ESF) 2007-2013 “Skills for Development” and the NOP of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2007-2013 “Learning Environments” and those for which the MIUR operated as the Intermediate Body financed by the Regional Operational Programmes (ROP) ERDF and ESF of Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily, including those reprogrammed in the ROPs as part of the Cohesion Action Plan (PAC). The datasets from which this information is drawn are available from this link to the open-data site of the MIUR. Any further financing for schools from the Regional Operational Programmes or from the Development and Cohesion Fund is not included in this universe.

In the “Focus on schools” section, users can consult the list of projects and download the CSV files with a selection of key variables drawn from the open data of OpenCoesione and the MIUR (see metadata), as well as a number of aggregate indicators selected on an ad hoc basis, constructed on the basis of data on the number of enrolees in the various subject fields covered by educational initiatives activated with ESF resources, the breakdown of amounts allocated to the different types of infrastructure initiatives carried out with ERDF funds, the number of enrolees in courses broken down by the thematic axes that make up the ESF Operational Programmes and the amounts allocated broken down by thematic axes of the ERDF Operational Programmes. Users can click on the interactive map to select indicators and the list of projects for each of the regions involved. 

In the project fact sheets, the section “Learn more” visualises charts and indicators for: course details (number of enrolees) and initiative finances (amounts); type of final beneficiaries (students, adults, teachers); number of enrolees by subject matter (for ESF projects) and amounts allocated by infrastructure type (for ERDF projects); completion rates (ratio of certificates issued to number of course enrolees) and cost per enrolee (ratio of cost of courses to the number of students enrolled).

Finally, in the section “Identifying details and other information” in the fact sheets on the entities involved, users can download the MIUR open data with the following information: full address, number of students, number of schools, number of teachers and number of projects implemented by the entity. The following indicators can also be downloaded: enrolment rate (ratio of students/teachers enrolled in training courses activated by the school and the total number of students/teachers at the school); completion rate (ratio of certificates issued to number of course enrolees); number of enrolees by subject matter (for ESF projects) and amounts allocated by infrastructure type (for ERDF projects); cost per enrolee (ratio of annual average number of students enrolled and the corresponding total for the school).

The entities involved in cohesion policy projects can be public or private (a government department, a non-profit institutions, an individual or a firm) and play two different roles in one or more projects:

• Planning authority: the entity responsible for the decision to finance the project. It is generally a central or regional government body.

• Implementing authority: the entity responsible for implementing the project. In the case of the Structural Funds 2007-2013, it corresponds to the "beneficiary" (Art. 2 of Regulation (EC) no. 1083/2006), namely the entity that receives the funding. The implementing authority may in turn use other entities in implementing the project, but under the rules of the 2007-2013 cycle, these are not necessarily tracked in the monitoring system.

• Beneficiary: a public or private body and, for the purposes of the EAFRD Regulation and of the EMFF Regu­lation only, a natural person responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing operations; in the context of State aid schemes, it is the body which receives the aid; and in the context of financial instruments, it means the body that implements the financial instrument or the fund of funds as appropriate. In European Territorial Cooperation Programmes, there may be several beneficiaries considering that projects are implemented by international partnerships composed by public and/or private subjects 

• Executor: the party that actually executes the project; in the case of public works, it is the entity awarded the contract and that actually executes the works; in the same way, for a project to purchase goods or services, the executor is the entity awarded the contract to provide the goods or service.

In the case of cohesion policy projects for which the department involved has reported in the title or among the entities involved in the project identified in the Unitary Monitoring System the tax ID number of an individual, this information is not published on the OpenCoesione website and is masked with the phrase *codice fiscale*.

 In the case of projects targeted at individuals in disadvantaged circumstances, the first and last names are also masked, using the phrase *individuo*.

This page provides details on the terms and conditions of use for the OpenCoesione website.

The planned and effective start and end dates associated on OpenCoesione with projects being implemented are based on the procedural process of each project, indicating the implementation phase (execution) of a project through to completion. Accordingly, the start and end dates correspond to the definitive execution phase of each project, which varies in relation to the nature of the projects themselves. If the planned and effective start dates for the execution of a project are both missing, they are replaced with the respective end dates of the preceding phase or, if both of these are missing, with the date of the first commitment made.

Attention! Since the bodies involved are not required to transmit this information to the Unitary Monitoring System, the OpenCoesione data source for projects, the information on the start and end of a project are not always available. In particular, the project end date may not have been loaded in the monitoring system even if the project has been completed. In order to determine the state of execution of the project, it may therefore be helpful to look not only at this information but also a the ratio between payments made and the total funding of the project.

For OpenCoesione the variable “total public funding” (the value of the funding displayed on the home page and the other aggregate pages on the website) represents the part of the value of a project funded by public sources of financing. In addition to Community and national resources specifically designated for cohesion, it also includes other types of public resources (for example, ordinary resources appropriated by municipalities, provinces or regions) that each project financed within the cohesion policy framework can activate.

The "public cost" of a project is the total public financing net of savings and is displayed on the home page, on other aggregate pages and on each project page. (see the variable OC_FINANZ_TOT_PUB_NETTO, calculated as the difference between the field FINANZ_TOTALE_PUBBLICO and the field ECONOMIE_TOTALI_PUBBLICHE).

In the Projects dataset that can be downloaded in the Open Data section of the OpenCoesione website, the variable for total public funding is present in the form FINANZ_TOTALE_PUBBLICO and public cost, namely total net public funding, is given as OC_FINANZ_TOT_PUB_NETTO. The metadata file provides detailed descriptions.

The funding monitored indicates the total public funding referred to the monitored projects, net of any savings. The funding monitored includes funding from all financial sources, while it does not include funding coming from private entities. The cohesion amount stands for the part of the monitored public funding which is financed by European and national resources of the cohesion policies.

The difference between the funding monitored and the cohesion amount is the co-financing "attracted" by the cohesion policies that represents ordinary resources, coming from the State, regional or municipal level, which contribute to the financing of the projects.

Payments monitored represent the total amount of payments disbursed for a particular monitored project, while cohesion payments indicate the amount of total payments referring to cohesion policy resources and therefore represent the portion of payments financed by European or national cohesion funds.

The time series of payments published on OpenCoesione, which is obtained from the variables present in the Unitary Monitoring System populated by the bodies involved, also includes recoveries, i.e. flows with the opposite sign of payments, representing the restitution of amount paid out previously (drawing, for example, on advances for projects that were subsequently found to not be eligible or were not refunded, which the beneficiary is asked to repay). The payments variable may therefore also have a negative value.

The series corresponds to the expenditures incurred by the beneficiary (or implementing authority) of the project, with the exception of transfers of resources to a guarantee fund, where the “payment” refers to the transfer.

In the Projects and Payments datasets downloadable in the Download Open Data section of the website, the payments variable is given as TOT_PAGAMENTI. Other variables include OC_TOT_PAGAMENTI_RENDICONTABILI_UE, OC_TOT_PAGAMENTI_FSC and OC_TOT_PAGAMENTI_PAC, which are subsets of the first. The Metadata file provides a detailed description.

As from the update at 31 December 2016, the Payments dataset contains a detailed breakdown of payments by date of payment execution, whereas in previous updates the data was presented in the form of the bimonthly aggregate of cumulative payments.

Savings generated during the implementation of a project consist of reductions in expenditures compared with budget, i.e. resources that can be used for some other purpose, normally within the same programme or instrument.

Savings are generally attributable to:

• savings following calls for tenders for the award of the contracts for the implementation of the project;

• savings generated during the project as a result of the reprogramming of the financial framework;

• final savings from reductions in expenditures, which are registered in a project’s final accounts.

On the basis of the OpenCoesione “project status” classification, a project may not have been launched, is still under way, is liquidated (when a full payment ratio of more than 95% is not associated with the completion of the project execution) or concluded. For a detailed definition of the “project status” variable and the values it can have, see the metadata file accompanying the datasets in the Download open data section. 

For OpenCoesione, completed project means a project with a payment ratio of more than 95% and whose execution end date falls before the final monitoring date. Payment ratio means the ratio of payments to total public funding net of savings.

Up to a certain update, if the financial plan of a project in the Unitary Monitoring System is modified with the exclusion of cohesion policy resources, that project is considered inactive in the system. The reasons for its inactive status (e.g. revocation, suspension, replacement with other projects) does not necessarily mean the inactive project no longer exists. In order to provide as complete a picture as possible of the implementation of policies in Italy, these projects may continue to be displayed in OpenCoesione, but are excluded from tallies and search results and are not included in the open data datasets.

More specifically, in navigating projects on the website, inactive projects are distinguished from active projects with a different project fact sheet. 

It is an aggregation carried by automatic algorithms based on: 

• EU priority themes and EU intervention fields associated with individual projects co-financed respectively in the two programming periods 2007-2013 and 2014-2020; 

• sectoral classifications of the CUP System. 

In attributing a project to a synthetic theme, the guiding criteria is the connection with the EU priority themes or EU intervention fields. Only in case of absence or inapplicability of the latter the CUP classification prevails. 

Starting from the publication of the updated data as of 28th February 2022, the synthetic themes of OpenCoesione are 11: Research and innovation, Networks and digital services, Enterprises' competitiveness, Energy, Environment, Culture and tourism, Transport and mobility, Employment and labour, Social inclusion and health, Education and training, Administrative capacity. 

Up to 31st December 2021 there were 13 instead.

It is possible to consult the comparison among the synthetic themes, EU priority themes , intervention themes and CUP classification.

The In-depth policy studies of OpenCoesione represent aggregations of ongoing projects that refer to specific sector policies or to specific Strategies, financed with Cohesion funds starting from 2007 to today. The focuses are the result of in-depth analyzes and studies carried out by thematic experts in the specific sector or of the policy of the cohesion policy.

For each policy study are available: the data (csv files and metadata) relating to the sectors analyzed in dedicated pills, as well as the latest updated data available on the portal.

The single focuses are released after the publication of a new bimonthly update of the data and can be searched and navigated on the portal in the "Focus" search category.

There are two main differences between these two typologies of data available on OpenCoesione portal.

The synthetic themes stand for automatic classification of all the projects monitored on the portal, while the In-depth policy studies are defined by thematic experts operating in the specific sector or in the sector of the policies of the cohesion policy, based on the detailed analysis of each of the projects.

The second difference stands in the attribution: the automatic algorithm classifies each project to only one synthetic theme, while the single project may be attributed to more then one In-depth policy studies at the same time.

At the current stage the policy studies are not related to all the projects published on the portal. On the contrary all the projects published on the portal are classified by only one synthetic theme.

The per capita values reported on the website are calculated by taking the overall funding (or the total payments) of the projects associated with a municipality, province or region and dividing that by the resident population using ISTAT figures for the same municipality, province or region at 31 December 2011.

The regional per capita values refer to all projects at the regional, provincial or municipal level, while the provincial per capita values refer to all projects at the provincial or municipal level and the municipal per capita values refer to projects at the municipal level. Accordingly, the municipal per capita values do not include any provincial- or regional-level projects.

“National” projects are only considered in calculating the average national per capita value given as a comparison on the indicator toolbar.

Attention! In the case of multi-location projects, i.e. projects located in more than one municipality, province or region, in OpenCoesione each territory is associated with the entire funding for the project.

Each project is assigned a location designator, which can be national, regional, provincial or municipal.

The regional map shows all projects located at a regional or lower level; the provincial map shows all projects located at a provincial or municipal level. Regional-level projects are not shown in the provincial map. Projects located at the national level are not shown on any map, as the maps only go up to the regional level.

Attention! A project can be located in more than one municipality, province or region. In that case, at each territorial level it is attributed in its entirety to each of the locations in which it is present.

The maps display the number of projects and the corresponding value of the associated resources (total public funding or payments made).

Compared with the display given in the per capita value maps, these are calculated by taking the total funding (or the total payments) of the projects associated with a municipality, province or region and dividing by the resident population using ISTAT figures for the same municipality, province or region at 31 December 2011. 

The value classes represented on the maps are defined using the Jenks algorithm (Jenks natural breaks classification method), which optimises the distribution in classes while minimising the variance within each class and maximising the variance between the classes.

The navigable and downloadable monitoring data available on the OpenCoesione website regard projects in Programmes financed by European Structural Funds 2007-2013 (ERDF and ESF), with the exception of international or cross-border cooperation programmes, by projects funded through the National Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC) and by the Cohesion Action Plan (PAC). The data from the Unitary Monitoring System, managed by the Inspectorate-General for Financial Relationships with the European Union (IGRUE) of the State General Accounting Department (Ragioneria Generale dello Stato - RGS), are updated on a bimonthly basis by all the bodies involved in implementing cohesion policy in Italy and are published on OpenCoesione about two months after the reference date. 

The data on the cohesion policy context are updated with varying frequencies: the data on the funding of Operational Programmes are updated to 31 July 2016; the data on CIPE allocations are updated to December 2013; the data on the certified expenditure of the Operational Programmes 2007-2013 are updated every six months or in conjunction with the adoption or updating of each planning instrument or to reflect any certifications submitted but not accepted; the territorial and thematic indicators in the DPS-ISTAT database, with the annual time series of more than 200 indicators, are updated monthly; the data of the Regional Public Accounts are updated annually. 

The OpenCoesione data are accompanied by metadata and a license agreement.  The data are available in CSV format. In some cases the files are compressed for easier downloading.

The OpenCoesione CSV file settings are:

·         encoding: Unicode (UTF-8)

·         language: Italian (Italy)

The CSV files use the comma as the decimal separator (the European standard).

The open data on projected funded under cohesion policy initiatives are organised on a relational basis: "Projects" is the main dataset and can be downloaded alone, while "Locations", "Entities" and "Payments" provide information connected with the main dataset through a key field that identifies the same project in the various tables.

The open data on the cohesion policy context, from the expenditure certified to the European Union to social and economic data broken down at the territorial level, from statistical indicators to the Regional Public Accounts.

The data are also available in JSON format through the OpenCoesione APIs.

L' API di OpenCoesione è un'interfaccia applicativa che permette a qualunque componente software esterno di accedere ai dati di OpenCoesione su progetti e soggetti finanziati dalle politiche di coesione in Italia rilasciati con la licenza CC-BY 4.0  I componenti software possono essere sviluppati da terze parti, utilizzando qualsiasi tecnologia. L'API di OpenCoesione adotta l'architettura REST.

Tutti possono accedere alla API, partendo dalla url http://www.opencoesione.gov.it/api.

L'API è navigabile con i browser attraverso dei link ipertestuali, come un normale sito web. E' possibile accedere a tutti i dati sia con utenza anonima per un massimo di 12 richieste al minuto sia con utenza registrata per un massimo di 60 richieste al minuto. La richiesta di registrazione deve essere inviata all'indirizzo email info@opencoesione.gov.it.

I dati sono disponibili in formato HTML e in formato JSON. Il formato HTML permette la navigazione tra i dati e la visualizzazione della documentazione integrata (in lingua inglese), che descrive l'utilizzo avanzato, a beneficio degli sviluppatori. Le risorse sono presentate in formato HTML, se non altrimenti specificato e per accedere al formato JSON di una risorsa, basta aggiungere .json.

Un esempio:

http://opencoesione.gov.it/api/progetti (HTML)

http://opencoesione.gov.it/api/progetti.json (JSON)

Sono esposte queste risorse principali:

Progetti - Elenco dei progetti, filtrabili per tema, natura o territorio

Soggetti - Elenco dei soggetti, filtrabili per tema e ruolo

Aggregati - Informazioni aggregate, rispecchiano le informazioni mostrate nelle pagine del sito.

Per semplificare il lavoro degli sviluppatori, sono disponibili anche degli elenchi accessori:

Nature - Elenco delle nature dei progetti

Temi - Elenco dei temi sintetici dei progetti

Territori - Elenco dei territori

Programmi - Elenco dei programmi (sia comunitari che nazionali)

The OpenCoesione data are released with the CC-BY 4.0 license.

This is the Attribution 4.0 International with BY (Attribution) condition. Thus, it is possible to share, adapt, redistribute the data; use the data for commercial purposes as long the following condition applies:

• attribution of the credit to the dataset(s) indicating the source and - where possible - the URL of the webpage where the datasets / content to be licenesed is published

The choice of the Attribuzione licence is aimed at promoting the creation of new products and contents born from the reuse of published data.

Boundaries related to regions, provinces and municipalities are extracted from the official shapefiles from Istat.

The OpenCoesione portal is a web application developed in Django/Python using a PostgreSQL/PostGIS database for the data storage and uWSGI/Nginx as a web server. Figures and text information concerning projects and beneficiaries are indexed using the Apache Solr document search platform.

The following are the components of OpenCoesione’s software stack:

·         jQuery
·         Bootstrap
·         NGINX
·         uWSGI
·         Django
·         Solr
·         Redis
·         PostgreSQL
·         pandas
·         Docker
·         Ubuntu 20.04 server di Gnu-Linux

You can download web app source code here: https://gitlab.depp.it/depp/open-coesione-2

The projects falling within the Framework Programme Agreements (APQ) signed as part of the National Strategy for Internal Areas (SNAI) and included in the National Monitoring System (SNM) based on the criteria set out in the IGRUE operational note for monitoring the National Strategy for Internal Areas and further notes which include:

• Criteria A: association with the complex Project relating to the Project Area / Internal Area of ​​the Strategy to which the project refers

• Criteria B: association with the Implementation Tool relating to the Framework Programme Agreement to which the project refers.

Projects which - while respecting the monitoring criteria - are not compatible with the Internal Areas National Strategy are temporarily excluded from this set, until the alignment of the monitoring data expected in the upcoming future updates.

Among the most frequent reasons that lead to the exclusion of a project are:

• the attribution to an Internal Area of ​​a project located in a Municipality not belonging to the Area

• the attribution to an Internal Area of ​​a project funded by Programmes / Plans / Attributions by law that not included in the Framework Programme Agreement of a specific Area

The inclusion in the National Monitoring System of data on projects in progress takes place separately and in parallel by the various Administrations responsible for monitoring the Programmes.

On occasion of the update at  31/10//2022 OpenCoesione makes available for the first time on the portal data relating to the first assignments in the FSC 2021-2027 approved by CIPESS.

The single protocol 21-27 is being defined which will also allow for all the cohesion policy programmes envisaged by the 2021-2027 Partnership Agreement, the transmission of data to the new Unitary Data Bank BDU 2021-2027.