In 2011, Romania attracted from the European Union around EUR535 million in structural funds, which do not include funds for agriculture. This amounts to a leap from 2.3% of the total funds allocated between 2007 and 2013 to 5.5%.
For 2012, the government plans to get another EUR3 billion in refunds, i.e. EUR8.2 million per day or nearly EUR60 million per week, a six times faster rate than in 2011.
Measured by another indicator, the national absorption of EU funds, i.e. payments to beneficiaries, rose from 8.6% at the end of 2010 to 15% in December last year. This indicator is of payments made in the economy by the government and pending refunding from Brussels.
Without being a spectacular year in terms of attracted EU funds, 2011 amounts to a major leap in quality, but only if compared against previous years.
The moment of truth will be 2012, when the Ministry of European Affairs plans to reach an absorption rate of 20% of all structural and cohesion funds, i.e. EUR4 billion out of the almost EUR20 billion allocated for Romania. Since one billion was refunded by December 31, 2011, the objective for 2012 is to attract EUR3 billion.
The bet is huge considering that in the five years since joining the EU, Romania received just EUR1 billion from the European Commission, which means in 2012 it will have to get three times as much money as in all five years since joining.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)