The Perspective of Public Institutions on the EU Funds Management System

The scope of this research was to highlight the most important weaknesses of the management system associated with the absorption of EU Funds dedicated to the development of the human capital in Romania, as seen from the perspective of the public institutions that have the most intense direct contact with program and project beneficiaries (the intermediary organisms). In order to achieve this scope, a broad approach in terms of analysing the processes associated with the management system was required – thus, all of the most important processes carried out within the program have been analysed in order to highlight the most significant dysfunctionalities. A specific analysis was carried out for each of the following types of program specific actions: programming, implementation and control and audit actions. The most significant weaknesses were identified within the programming and implementation set of actions, while control and audit actions were appreciated by the research sample to be positively relevant to the scope of the programs they managed. In terms of programming, most programming documents were appreciated to be as average in quality, impacting the whole life cycle of the program. The implementation actions were evaluated from the perspective of relationships between intermediary organism and the Managing Authority and with project beneficiaries. In this field the research was extended and the major factors for the relatively low quality of interactions within the program were identified. Finally, taking into account the results of the research, I have presented a series of recommendations and proposals for improving the management system that will ultimately lead to an improvement in the absorption rate and in the overall success of the program.