The Cohesion Policy and the Structural Funds. From Idea to Implementation. The Case of Romania

The difference between intergovernmentalism and multilevel governance is that intergovernmentalism focuses on the negotiation process between EU Member States and how resources are allocated to each country separately, while multilevel governance focuses on the negotiation processes taking place between the European Commission, the Member States and the regional authorities. There is disagreement between the old EU members regarding the manner in which the structural funds should support the expansion of the Union, the main contradiction being between the old Member States which are net contributors and who would want future funds to be directed to new members only and the Member States who want structural funds to be distributed among all EU members. The Berlin Agreement applied the principle ‘something for everyone” and we can assert that each Member State has gained by negotiating.