SECTORAL DISTRIBUTION OF EUROPEAN FUNDS AND IMPACT ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NORTH-EAST ROMANIA

Abstract

European funds are a strategic instrument to stimulate entrepreneurial initiatives and to support regional economic development, by generating jobs and modernizing economic structures. At the same time, they contribute to strengthening Romania's position within the European space, but the efficiency of the use of grants depends on the quality of the business environment and the existing institutional capacity at regional and local level. The present research analyzes the private projects, financed and completed in the period 2021-2027 at the level of the counties of the North-East Development Region, based on the updated data provided by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects. The main objective of the study is to test the hypothesis that the allocation of European funds by economic sectors, through the beneficiary companies, reflects the local economic structure. The results of the analysis show partial validation, which has been confirmed in some economic sectors, such as services, and invalidated in others, such as agriculture. In the context of the development of the regional entrepreneurial environment, the analysis underlines the importance of continuous monitoring of European funding mechanisms, in a complementary way, namely in a territorial profile. The data obtained must be capitalized not only through statistical collection, but also by integrating them into decision-making processes and regional debates, so that structural trends, territorial disparities and determinants of economic performance can be identified.