Aspects Concerning the Access to the Structural Funds in Romania

Structural funds are financial instruments through which the European Union acts in order to eliminate the economic and social disparity between regions, with the purpose of realizing economic and social cohesion. As well as the pre-adhesion funds (SAPARD, PHARE, ISPA), structural funds are a form of nonrefundable financing operational also in Romania since 2007. The responsibility for their management falls entirely into the hands of the Romanian authorities, unlike the preadhesion funds in the case of which the European Commission played an important role. Structural funds operate on the principle of reimbursement, that is, the final beneficiaries operate the suppliers’ payments from their own funds, and later, on the basis of the paid invoices and payment orders which prove the payment execution, it is solicited to reimburse the expenses. The financing is realized on the principle of programming that involves diagnosing the current situation, formulating a multiannual integrated and coherent strategy and defining tangible objectives to be attained.