DETERMINANTS OF INCREASING EU FUNDS ABSORPTION CAPACITY IN ROMANIA

The study found that, during the early post-accession years, Romania failed toattract European funds, at least to the same extent to the national contribution at thecommunity budget, registering a net expenditure as an EU member. The determinants ofincreasing EU funds absorption rate are related, among other, to the availability of internalresources for projects co-financing, adequate administrative capacity at central and locallevels, appropriate inter-institutional coordination and public-private partnerships, highskills and motivation of human resources working in operational programs ManagementAuthorities and intermediary bodies. Activating these determinants could be an opportunityfor sustaining economic growth of Romania and recovering the development gap, which issupposed to alleviate also the adverse effects of international financial crisis on EU countries.