Risks of Corruption and the Management of EU Funds in Romania

Romanian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 13, no. 1, Summer 2013

Posted: 24 Jan 2016

See all articles by Valentina Dimulescu

Valentina Dimulescu

Central European University (CEU) - Department of Political Science; University of Bonn

Madalina Doroftei

Independent

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

The suspension of EU payments in four operational programmes in 2012 showed how problematic Romania’s correct and effective management of EU funds is. Such funds aim primarily at decreasing the socio-economic disparities among EU members and support the economic convergence of less developed new EU members with their Western counterparts. Consequently, a poor absorption rate of EU funds threatens income convergence between old and new member countries, thus representing a major challenge for EU integration. Currently, Romania has the poorest absorption rate among all the EU Member States and the worst among the ten new Member States. Moreover, the financial corrections, which amount to roughly 22% of the assimilated European funds, further reduce the real absorption rate, a loss which can be attributed entirely to corruption and mismanagement. The present report investigates the proportion of EU funds which can reasonably be considered at risk because of mismanagement and corruption, asks what are the main defrauding tactics used at national level to obtain European money illicitly, and considers the extent to which the suspension or cancellation of EU assistance might be the best policy for dealing with the situation. In addition, the report will put forward a list of recommendations for the next EU programming period which are intended to mitigate the effects of corruption and mismanagement that result in a waste of public resources.

Keywords: Romania, Structural and Cohesion funds, fraud, corruption, mismanagement

JEL Classification: O52, R58

Suggested Citation

Dimulescu, Valentina and Doroftei, Madalina, Risks of Corruption and the Management of EU Funds in Romania (2013). Romanian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 13, no. 1, Summer 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2720947

Valentina Dimulescu (Contact Author)

Central European University (CEU) - Department of Political Science ( email )

Nador utca 9
Budapest 1051
Hungary

University of Bonn ( email )

Germany

Madalina Doroftei

Independent ( email )

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