Structural Funds and Economic Crises: Romania's Absorption Paradox

EU officials and government authorities are considering that structural funds may represent the instrument by which EU Member States can recover from the present crisis. However, theoretical evidence suggests that the absorption capacity of any country is also affected by economic downturns. Using Romania as a case study, we will attempt to solve this peculiar dilemma by analyzing three factors which are paramount for the absorption of structural funds, respectively: the macroeconomic and financial capacity, the administrative efficiency and people's uncertainty regarding the European funding system. Preliminary results seem to confirm that a country's capacity to spend the allocated money is also crippled by economic depressions.