RESEARCH ON PROBLEMS WITH PROJECTS AND PARTNERSHIPS THAT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN THE CENTRE REGION FACED IN ACCESSING EUROPEAN FUNDS

Abstract

European project management is the main filed of the article. Assuming a connection between the degree of absorption of European funds and the degree of maturity of the Romanian society in terms of project management, the article seeks to identify the negative factors on accessing and carrying out European projects. The identified problem is a low degree of absorption of European funds in Romania, and the main objective of the research is to identify the problems faced by the public institutions in the Centre Region in accessing European funds and also the causes that led to the low absorption of European funds. This article’s research is based on a preliminary analysis performed by the authors on the rate of accessing of European funds published in the article called “The current state of European funds absorption through funding programmes – measure of the Romanian performances in the project management practice”. The conclusion of this article was a low rate of absorption of European funds in Romania, a fact that reveals a poor practice of the theory on project management. This article identifies part of the causes of this situation by identifying a part of the problems that stood in the way of beneficiaries of European funds The qualitative and quantitative research methods are used in combination in the research. The investigation has however a highly quantitative character, the purpose of the qualitative research being to provide the prerequisites for achieving the quantitative research. The interview-based qualitative research enabled the researcher to get acquainted with the subjects’ problems related to the theme of investigation, the causes that have generated these problems. This preliminary investigation to the questionnaire-based research aims to provide information that would help the researcher prepare the questionnaire, so that the questions allow getting the most comprehensive information to solve the identified problems. The qualitative research revealed the existence of some problems faced by institutions in relation to accessing and developing projects that focus on several directions: when filling out the application form, the technical-financial reporting, at the contracting phase of the projects, problems of partners. This article deals with the problems encountered during the projects’ contracting stage and problems caused by partners. The respondents’ answers place the problems of partners on top of the categories of problems that stood in the way of European funds’ beneficiaries. A series of causes that have led to the occurrence of these problems have also been identified. It should be stated that the information obtained from the conducted research supplies, theoretically speaking, the studied field and brings an important contribution not only to possible beneficiaries of European funds, but to the institutions managing European funds in Romania, who have a lot to learn from the experience of the first period of programmes. The authors’ main contribution is to integrate this study into the logical thread of the thesis entitled “Strategic management in European project funding”. Both articles, part of a research in the field of project management are unique and original and meet a current and pressing requirement of the Romanian society.

Keywords

• Funds, projects, problems, partnership, absorption.