Regio From Public Sector Perspective in North-West of Romania

Abstract

The aim of this article is to contribute to the theoretical evaluation of the EU Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 through a specifi c program – REGIO - Regional Operational Program (ROP) and a specifi c region – North-West Region of Romania (NWRR) and to identify the obstacles encountered by the benefi ciaries from the public sector that lead to the weak absorption of ROP, in all areas of intervention: urban growth poles, transport infrastructure, social infrastructure, development of business environment, sustainable development and promotion of tourism. Our main concern was to analyze through quantitative and qualitative research the problems identifi ed on the basis of the document analysis and secondary data research, at the level of 176 projects completed by 53 public sector benefi ciaries, fi nanced by ROP 2007-2013, in NWRR, until 31.01.2014. An on-line questionnaire was applied to the project managers, as well as an open structured interview which was applied to the legal representatives of project benefi ciaries. We conclude that the most important obstacle for the public sector, especially for local public administration, is the public procurement process and that the encountered obstacles are outweighed by the advantages of projects with a positive infl uence on the intention to access EU regional funds in the next programming period.