THE WEAK ABSORPTION OF THE EUROPEAN FUNDS, ONE OF THE CAUSES OF ROMANIA'S DOWNSHIFT IN COMPARISON WITH THE OTHER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The passage from a centralized system to a competitive market economy as well as Romania’s adherence to the European Union have lead to significant changes for the Romanian economy on the political, economic and social levels. The lack of an entrepreneurial culture, low financial capital and the lack of decisive government measures have prevented the rise of both the public and private investments which would have been so necessary for Romania’s development. In the past few years Romania ranked last place among others due to a weak absorption of the European funds whose role is to reduce the downshifts among the member states of the European Union.