The Funding Projects for Sustainable Development of Romanian Rural Area: Benefits and Limits

Abstract

The Romania’s socio-economic development, according to the European standards and requirements, depends largely on rural area development, which is so significant for our country’s international recognition. The sustainable development, one of the most modern concepts inherent for economic world of XXI century, is a main goal of entities responsible for Romanian rural area development. Bearing in mind that the socio-economic condition and quality of life in Romanian rural area are far from sustainability principles and realities of other European States, we appreciate the role and implication of funding programs dedicated to rural area, as essential. In our opinion, the Romanian rural area was a subject of significant challenges, with very sinuous evolution, so it is extremely important to use all possible funding sources that let implement the projects aimed to foster sustainable development of Romanian rural area. However, the past experience with SAPARD, FEADR and other programs indicates that in addition to their benefits, some limits appear as well. In this paper we propose to identify these benefits and limits and realize a synthetic analysis based on the past experience of the projects beneficiaries, with aim to establish some key lessons for the next funding period 2014-2020 when, again, the Romanian rural area is a priority. Also, we suggest implementing a comparative analysis of main rural sectors where the funding projects for sustainability of rural area were implemented with success or obstacles.