STRUCTURAL AND COHESION FUNDS ABSORPTION DEGREE AS AT QUARTER I 2012

The requirements imposed by the EU, the mechanisms of the community policies, the European rules and standards are challenges that manufacturers, processors, retailers and decision makers of the Romanian economic environment must cope with. In this article the structural and cohesion funds absorption degree was analyzed on the major allocation axis: transportation, environment, regional infrastructure, human resources development, increasing economic competitiveness, administrative capacity building and technical assistance.The purpose of this paper is to attain clear conclusions, which in turn may guide us to making recommendations on the identification of weaknesses that prevent a better absorption of the funds and determination of counteracting measures for these deficiencies.Among the main findings worth mentioning is the fact that the mechanism allowing access to European fi nancing is a functional, stable and efficient one. Of course, its performance could be greatly enhanced if the producers, processors, retailers and decision makers of the Romanian economic environment, previously mentioned, would give more signifi cance to this opportunity that makes the Romanian economic development possible.