New innovative instruments intended to help address concerns about administrative capacity have been introduced in 2014-20 in the Italian public administrations involved in managing ESI Fund programmes. The Plans for Administrative Reinforcement (PRA) are operational strategies which set clear timelines for improvements in administrative processes, and are monitored closely and have been given high political priority. The strategies involve taking steps to improve the availability of human resources, training and introduce the simplification of procedures. After a successful evaluation of the first phase, the PRAs have now entered a second phase which is being widened to include administrative responsibilities outside ESI Funds. The success of the PRAs has also been highlighted by the European Commission as being important in the discussions about administrative capacity taking place in regard to the post-2020 period.