Article 1, paragraph 375, of Law no. 234 of 30 December 2021, entitled "State Budget for the Financial Year 2022 and Multi-Year Budget for the Three-Year Period 2022–2024" (budget law 2022), earmarked EUR 90 million for 2022 and EUR 140 million for 2023 for the "Extraordinary Fund for Support Measures in the Publishing Sector", initially within the budget of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, for subsequent transfer to the autonomous budget of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Funds for the year 2023 were allocated by the D.P.C.M. 10 August 2023

In particular, in order to support the demand for information, Article 3 of the aforementioned Prime Ministerial Decree provided, as a support measure for businesses publishing newspapers and periodicals, for an extraordinary contribution of 10 eurocents for each printed copy of newspapers and periodicals sold in the year 2022, including by subscription, at newsstands or non-exclusive points of sale, within the limit of 60 million euro, which constitutes the expenditure ceiling. The effectiveness of the provision is subject to the authorisation of the European Commission, pursuant to Article 108(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which, by Decision No. C(2024) 3252 final of 13 May 2024, published on 20 June 2024, concerning State Aid "SA.112854", ruled on the compatibility of the aid with the European state aid regulations, authorising its application for the year 2023, with reference to the copies sold in the year 2022.

A subsequent decree of the Head of the Department for Information and Publishing of 4 July 2024 then defined, in Article 1, the modalities for the use of this aid. 

The grant is available to newspaper and periodical publishing companies that employ at least three journalists on permanent journalistic employment contracts (this requirement must have been fulfilled both in 2022, the year of sales to which the eligibility criterion relates, and at the time of submitting the grant application). Companies must also be up-to-date with their social security and contribution obligations, registered in the Register of Communication Operators (ROC) maintained by the Authority for Communications Guarantees (AGCOM), and have their main and/or primary ATECO classification code recorded in the Business Register as follows:

• For newspaper publishing businesses: 58.13 (newspaper publishing)
• for magazine publishing businesses: 58.14 (magazines and periodicals publishing)

The grant contributes to taxable income and is therefore subject to corporate income tax (IRES) withholding.

Entities wishing to access the grant for the year 2023 may apply to the Department from 10.00 am on 1 October 2024 to 5.00 pm on 22 October 2024.

Each applicant business only has to submit one application for copies of the published titles sold in the year 2022. The application must be digitally signed by the legal representative of the business, exclusively with a CAdES signature. In case of an error, it will be possible, throughout the period during which applications are open, to submit a new application that replaces the previous one.

The application must be accompanied by the certification required by Article 1, paragraph 4, of the Decree of the Head of the Department for Information and Publishing dated 4 July 2024. This certification must be issued by an entity registered in the Register of Legal Auditors and Auditing Companies, maintained by the Ministry of Economy and Finance pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree No. 39 of 27 January 2010, and digitally signed by the auditor. The certification must state, for the publication(s) for which the grant is requested, the number of copies sold in 2022—certified by a third party independent from the publisher capable of guaranteeing the accuracy of the data—as well as the sales channel used and the sales price. To this end, a template analytical statement is provided, which shall be incorporated into the aforementioned certification document. The sales figures in the table statement must correspond to those in the business' accounting records.

The procedures for application and the documentation required to submit an application for access to the benefit are governed by the aforementioned Decree of the Head of the Department for Information and Publishing dated 4 July 2024.

More details on the aid measure can be found on the dedicated page on the Department for Information and Publishing website.
Download the user manual (updated 25/09/2024) useful for filling in the application.

For technical assistance in accessing the web portal or in filling in the application, please contact the Help Desk at 06 64892717 from Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. 

If you need clarification, please read the FAQs section on the dedicated page of the Department for Information and Publishing website. If consulting the FAQs does not resolve your queries, please submit your question exclusively via regular email to the following dedicated email address: fondo.straordinario@governo.it