“The latest annual survey compiled by the KPMG member firms in the region, ‘EU Funds in Central and Eastern Europe’, shows that in Romania the absorption rate of European funds continues to lag behind the absorption rate of numerous countries in Central and East Europe in many sectors. While Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic rank among the first, Romania continues to be consistently in the penultimate place with a little over 60% of funds contracted over the last 5 years out of the total European budget allocated to Romania, and in the last place with less than 15% reimbursed to beneficiaries,” KPMG said in a press release Thursday.
The survey reveals that foreign investments in countries in Central and Eastern Europe have decreased significantly since the beginning of the crisis, as investors left emerging markets, targeting rapidly developing economies (such as the BRIC countries- Brazil, Russia, India and China).
Considering this context, Romania must absorb the funds still available from the EU and clearly define its priorities for the next EU financing period, reads the press release.
Dinu Bumbacea, KPMG Romania Executive Partner, said the low European fund absorption rate in Romania is caused mainly by the lack of a consistent project development process.
“Given the current level of development of the Romanian economy, compared to that of our EU partners, Romania should be a net beneficiary and not a net contributor. This is the only way to cover the gap that separates us from the more developed economies,” said Bumbacea.
Romania was allotted EUR19.2 billion in EU funds for 2007-2013.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta said recently that the European Commission (EC) proposed that European funding for Romania and other EU member states should not be reduced in the 2014-2020 period.