The European social Fund in Romania - Qualitative research on the Project Management of the EU-funded Projects

• Author: Foris T., Nicolau C.
• Pages: 209-216

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series V: Economic Sciences • Vol. 8 (57) No. 2 - 2015

The European social Fund in Romania – Qualitative

research on the Project Management

of the EU-funded Projects

Tiberiu FORIS1, Cristina NICOLAU2

Abstract: This paper focuses on the implementation of the programmes within the European

Social Fund in Romania and on the particularities of managing projects financed with the

Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development (SOPHRD), as well.

In this regard, we undertook a piece of qualitative research with the project managers of

some of the most important projects run in Romania so as to emphasize the strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats encountered in developing them. The main results

highlight the importance of being offered proper support by the SOPHRD programmes

management authorities, the financial difficulties encountered in developing projects and

last, but not least, the motifs of the low absorption rate of European funds in our country.

Key-words: European Social Fund, Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources

Development, project management, public mismanagement.

1. Introduction

As a reply to the UAS’s global economic power, the European Union has aimed at

becoming the world’s number one. In such regard, it has allocated important

amounts of money to regional and sectoral development at European level so that

unity by diversity to become a synergetic development source of the old continent.

Thus, the EU surpassed the USA in terms of population, by more than 60%,

and by GDP, being the main world economy (in 2014, according to the World

Bank), but it is not ranked among the first with regard to labour (84.4 in 2014,

OECD). In such circumstances, the EU has aimed at massively invest in its human

resources as a means of ensuring the competitiveness standard imposed by the USA.

Thus, the European Social Fund was created.

As regards Romania, the last ranked in the UE with respect to all its macro-

economic indicators, the 2007 – 2013 period was of financial funding so as to solve

or at least, improve, the main economic issues – increase of economic

1 Transilvania University of Braşov, tiberiu.foris@unitbv.ro

2 Transilvania University of Braşov, cristina.nicolau@unitbv.ro