Universitatea Româno-Americană Institutul de Economie Naţională

cu finanţarea ANCS

Fondurile structurale şi de coeziune ca premisă a dezvoltării mediului de afaceri din România

A treia ediţie 15 Mai 2008

REZUMATELE LUCRĂRILOR PREZENTATE

1. Mediul de afaceri în România. Iniţierea şi derularea unei afaceri, Lector univ. dr. Mirela Ionela ACELEANU, Academia de Studii Economice Bucureşti,

Seldom people realize that business just like life is merely a series of decisions. And global firms have a growing need for the necessary information on which to base decisions concerning the conduct and development of each of their firm’s strategic objectives and the protection of their organizations against threats from their competitors. In today’s business world the mentality “more is better” does not work well with information; it is a time of quality information rather than quantity information. In Romania, under the auspices of globalization, the competitively has to be reviewed, because the concept of competitive advantage is based on effective use of the new factor of production. Therefore, Romania has to take into account the fact that the economy performances and the ability to stand against the international competing pressures, especially under the integration circumstances are directly related to the quality of the human factor and to the quality of medium business. 2. Rolul şi importanta activităţii de consultanţă în atragerea şi obţinerea finanţărilor

pentru mediul de afaceri din România, Dr. Daniela ANTONESCU – CP III, Institutul de Prognoză Economică, Academia Română

Consultanţa în afaceri nu reprezintă un subiect nou pentru firmele private româneşti. Cu toate acestea, puţine firme apelează la o firmă de consultanţă atunci când vine vorba de a apela la un consultant pentru realizarea propunerii de proiect ce poate fi depus pentru finanţarea din Fondurile Structurale. În prezent, obiectivul global al firmelor româneşti îl reprezintă creşterea productivităţii în vederea reducerii decalajelor faţă de productivitatea medie la nivelul Uniunii Europene. Instrumentele principale care susţin acest obiectiv general sunt atât fondurile proprii ale firmelor, cât şi fondurile comunitare (Fondurile Structurale şi Fondul de Coeziune). Ideile de afaceri se concretizează în proiecte care, ulterior, vor putea fi transpuse în practică cu ajutorul acestor fonduri. Din perspectiva finanţării din fonduri comunitare, proiectele iniţiate de sectorul privat pot fi realizate cu ajutorul unor firme de consultanţă, plata acestei prestaţii fiind considerată cheltuială eligibilă, ce poate fi recuperată ulterior de către întreprinzător, după selectarea proiectului. Cu toate acestea, puţin sunt cei care apelează la firmele de consultantă pentru întocmirea unui proiect viabil, care să conţină toate informaţiile solicitate în Ghidul solicitantului şi care să poată câştiga competiţia atât de puternică existentă, în acest moment, pentru obţinerea de finanţare din bani europeni. Firma de consultanţă urmăreşte ca solicitantul să îndeplinească criteriile stabilite în Programul Cadru de Implementare pentru fiecare domeniu major de intervenţie, dar şi cerinţele specifice stabilite de Autoritatea de Management în momentul lansării „Cererii de proiecte" sau în Ghidul Solicitantului.

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3. The Economical Performance of Romania seen through the International Investment Position, Prof. Univ. Dr. Mariana-Elena BALU, USH –Bucureşti

The International Investment Position (PII) can suggest the reports and positions of a country with the rest of the world, by its economical performances. The International Investment Position is also known as Indicator of the External Payments Balance. Romanian at the end of 2006 has had a debtor sold of 36.7 mild. Euro. This means 13.6 mild. Euro more than in 2005, difference justified in principal by the net external transactions, variations of currency, etc.

4. Armonizarea cadrului normativ al auditului public intern cu reglementările europene, Ec. Drd. Florina BOBEŞ, CN Transelectrica S.A. – Sucursala de Transport Sibiu

The international reference framework of internal auditing includes: definition of internal auditing – „internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes”; code of Ethics – the purpose of the Institute’s Code of Ethics is to promote an ethical culture in the profession of internal auditing; standards of audit – the standards consist of Attribute Standards (the 1000 Series), Performance Standards (the 2000 series), and Implementation Standards (nnn. Xn); practice advisories – compliance with these practices is optional in the auditor’s work.

5. Implicaţiile componentelor generale ale managementului în managementul controlului şi auditului financiar, Ec. Drd. Viorel BOBEŞ, Curtea de Conturi a României –

Camera de Conturi Sibiu In achieving the financial objectives of management, respective performance, financial control and audit have an important contribution. Financial control and audit contribute to substantiation and application of decisions in management, and also contribute to remove the financial shortcomings and too keep a good financial administration of the resources. The activity of financial control and audit has a personal system of management. The main general components of management with implications in financial control and audit are: the science of management, the scientific management, processes, relation and the principles of management. 6. Perspectivele politicii de coeziune a Uniunii Europene după extinderile din 2004 şi 2007, Prof. Univ. Dr. Florin BONCIU, Universitatea Româno-Americană, Decan al Facultăţii de

Studii Economice Europene După extinderile din 2004 şi 2007 Uniunea Europeană s-a confruntat cu o creştere fără precedent a decalajelor de dezvoltare, dat fiind faptul că majoritatea noilor ţări membre au nivele de dezvoltare sensibil mai reduse decât cele ale Uniunii Europene cu 15 membri. Pentru exerciţiul financiar 2007-2013 se consideră că provocările determinate de globalizare, evoluţiile demografice, tendinţele de polarizare socială, schimbările de climă, dar şi extinderea în continuare a Uniunii Europene, vor constitui motive serioase pentru continuarea politicii de coeziune. Politica de coeziune va trebui să conducă la o mai bună infrastructură de transport şi comunicaţii, la reţele informatice, la creşterea calificării şi la dezvoltarea activităţii de cercetare-dezvoltare şi inovare.

7. The harmonization of the cross border tourism in the space of the operational program region ENPI 2007-2013 Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine, Brînduşa

COVACI, Assistant teacher PhD Student, Faculty of Finance and Banks, Spiru Haret University, Mihai COVACI, Professor, Dr. I. C. Cantacuzino College

Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine Region (HSRUR) – for this region it is absolutely necessary to develop the cross border tourism into harmonized way. This area it is special because present regional particularities. In these sense, it is required the promotion of the area through creating brand zone, sustaining marketing activities, implementing information and promotion centers, setting up data basis with information touristy. Ignoring pluralism in society will inevitably lead to safety tourism. A soft or compromise legislation will keep safety traveling to a minimum. Safety tourism is a safety valve that reduces moral conflict and expresses minimal

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recognition of the others' moral autonomy. The population of the HSRUR is diverse but homogenous one. Anyway, it is simply to apply the three pillars of the Lisbon Strategy: growth and employment, social cohesion and sustainable environment.

8. Condiţii logice de identificare a criteriilor reale de convergenţă cu U.E., Dr. Emil DINGA, CS I, Centrul de Cercetări Financiare şi Monetare „Victor Slăvescu”

După cum se ştie, documentele strategic europene nu codifică decât criteriile nominale de convergenţă economică a statelor membre (prin Tratatul de la Maastricht). Lucrarea se concentrează pe sublinierea faptului că sustenabilitatea convergenţei nominale este asigurată de convergenţa reală. În acest context, se realizează o analiză logică a unei metodologii posibile de identificare a setului minimal de criterii reale de convergenţă economică, precum şi de analiză a completitudinii, consistenţei şi stabilităţii acestora. Se pun în evidenţă unele fenomene de morfogeneză (efecte identice din cauze diferite, efecte diferite din cauze identice) plecându-se de la premisa că criteriile reale de convergenţă trebuie considerate mai degrabă cauze pentru criteriile nominale de convergenţă (deşi se pun în evidenţă şi unele posibile „circuite cauzale” inverse). În context, lucrarea aspiră să realizeze nu o listă empirică a criteriilor reale de convergenţă economică în cadrul UE ci, mai ales, o metodologie generală de stabilire a unei asemenea liste. De asemenea, se fac unele consideraţii cu privire la asigurarea comparabilităţii criteriilor reale de convergenţă între statele membre (prin ajustări specifice ale indicatorilor care intră în construirea criteriilor reale de convergenţă).

9. Managementul inovării şi economia cunoaşterii - schimbări în formarea profesională, Marioara FAIGHENOV, director S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., Bucureşti

Concepută şi realizată în viziunea fenomenului exploziv al inovării, strictă necesitate pentru evoluţie, creştere economică şi competitivitate, legăturile şi determinările între inovare şi schimbările sociale, pe de o parte, şi a noii economii bazate pe cunoaştere, pe de altă parte, prezenta lucrare are ca obiectiv principal prezentarea unei noi ocupaţii în România – managerul de inovare. Urmare a unui studiu aprofundat şi îndelungat din partea autoarei, asupra caracteristicilor fundamentale a trei concepte – inovare, schimbări sociale şi economie bazată pe cunoaştere – au apărut, ca necesităţi evidente, şi preocupări în domeniul managementului inovării, în strânsă legătură cu managementul cunoştinţelor. În final, aceste preocupări s-au concretizat, cu introducerea în COR – Clasificarea Ocupaţiilor din România - a „managerului de inovare”, cod COR 241941, la grupa majoră „Specialişti cu ocupaţii intelectuale şi ştiinţifice”.

10. Fonduri structurale pentru IMM prin POS CCE, Drd. ec. Marcel Lucian FLOREA, Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iaşi, Facultatea de Economie şi Administrarea Afacerilor,

Şcoala Doctorală în Economie Structural fund for Small and Middle sized Industry using the Regional Operational Sectorial which implements important components of National Strategy for Regional Development and together with the other Operational Programmes will contribute to the achieving and National Strategic Reference Framework objectives: diminishing the economic and social development disparities between Romania and average development of EU Member States.

11. Relansarea investiţiilor publice în infrastructură prin intermediul Fondurilor Structurale şi de Coeziune, Dr. Simona FRONE, CS II, I.E.N, Conf. Univ. Dr. Dumitru-Florin

FRONE, U.S.A.M.V. Investiţiile publice de capital au un rol deosebit de important şi în economia de piaţă, datorită faptului că unele dotări publice de infrastructură reprezintă inputuri pentru activitatea din sectorul privat şi contribuie la creşterea productivităţii marginale a capitalului privat. Pentru a obţine convergenţa reală cu media de dezvoltare de la nivelul Uniunii Europene, strategia României trebuie să se axeze pe investiţiile necesare pentru a spori competitivitatea pe termen lung, pentru a promova crearea locurilor de muncă şi dezvoltarea durabilă. Luând în considerare rolul cheie deţinut de infrastructura de mediu în atingerea obiectivelor de la Lisabona, România trebuie să se adreseze necesităţilor semnificative de investiţii în infrastructură. Realităţile din prezent indică faptul că România ca ţară precum şi toate regiunile ei de dezvoltare se află încă într-un stadiu modest de dezvoltare al serviciilor publice de

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management al apei şi al infrastructurii tehnico-edilitare aferente, nesatisfăcător şi chiar jenant pentru o ţară europeană, membră a UE. Capacitatea României de a furniza infrastructură şi servicii eficiente în domeniul protecţiei mediului, atât la nivel naţional, cât şi la nivel local, este şi un factor important în dezvoltarea sectorului privat. De aceea, investiţiile publice în infrastructura de apă/apă uzată, deşi extrem de costisitoare, sunt în prezent un imperativ pentru asigurarea unei dezvoltări echilibrate şi durabile a regiunilor şi judeţelor ţării, un efort colectiv şi un test pentru integrarea efectivă şi eficientă a României în Uniunea Europeană.

12. Importanţa consultanţei financiare în accesarea şi utilizarea fondurilor structurale pentru dezvoltarea afacerii, Luminiţa HORHOTA, Universitatea Româno-Americană, Facultatea de Relaţii Comerciale şi Financiar Bancare Interne şi Internaţionale

În contextul presiunii tot mai mari pe care o exercită finanţările din fonduri structural, prin sumele considerabile pe care le oferă pentru proiecte de dezvoltare în sectoarele privat şi public, conceptele şi instrumentele manageriale se vor schimba fundamental. Accesul la fondurile structurale şi de coeziune se face pe baza unei documentaţii foarte cuprinzatoare: analiza economico-financiară, analiza de risc, studiul de fezabilitate, documente contabile, cazierul fiscal, oglinda fiscală etc. După cum ştim cu toţii, pregatirea tuturor acestor documente durează o perioadă foarte lungă de timp şi necesită cunoştinţe temeinice de specialitate. Pentru a avea acces cât mai rapid şi facil la fonduri structurale, se recomandă apelarea la serviciile de consultanţă de specialitate, aceasta devenind o soluţie eficientă şi atractivă şi în România, ca peste tot în lume.

13. The convergence of the national economies belong to advanced regional integration, Dr. Mioara IORDAN, CS I, Dr. Dalina–Maria ANDREI, CS, Drd. Nona-Mihaela

CHILIAN, CP III, Institute for Economic Forecasting, Romanian Academy Convergence is understood as monetary and real economic, a difference of meanings going further than a well known understanding of the two concepts. The monetary part of this forms relationships between member states and the European Commission, defined by the “criteria”. Whereas, the real economic convergence keeps on the same macro level of definition but on debatable terms yet.

14. Defining Components of the Romanian Busines Environment from the Point of View of EU Integration, Dr. Mioara IORDAN, CS I, Drd. Nona-Mihaela CHILIAN, CP III, Dr.

Dalina–Maria ANDREI, CS, Institute for Economic Forecasting, Romanian Academy Although the accession of Romania to the European Union was considered as bringing to the country multiple economic and social benefits, it would also bring many challenges to the domestic companies, especially in the short run. The status of member state of the European Union does not automatically insures the Romanian economy against risks, but the contrary, and the corporate environment is the first one bound to face significant structural changes. The impact of EU accession will fall more or less upon all the Romanian companies, irrespective of size, sectors and industries, and capital structure.

15. Dimensiunea conceptual - teoreticã a costurilor implementãrii aquisului comunitar de mediu, Drd. Ionel LEONIDA, Cercetător asistent, Centrul de Cercetări

Financiare şi Monetare „Victor Slăvescu” The eco institutional dimension of European aquis implementation costs reflects not only the importance of the costs generated by externality effect approached by the binomial of taxes-regulations but also in the context of analytic evaluation of essentially particularities of implementation objects and the qualities of the institutional actors who participate at the implementation process. In this respect we talk about the exclusion and reality proprieties of public private and ecologic goods in a concrete manner exposed in directives, decisions and recommendations but also about the social capital concept which extends the institutional analysis to a more detailed interdependencies between the culture, convictions and economic behavior of agents on one hand, and the ecologic outcomes on the other. Briefly speaking, is about the costs of relations established in the official and unofficial framework, in the context of public law or in the customs of social networks – rule of a game that leads to the cost of obtaining, adoption, adaptation, monitoring, and control the informational flows- the social

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capital that moves between public authority and private spheres but also within the private actors too.

16. Pre - University education – a way to provide a Competitive labor force, Prof. Helga LORINCZ, Colegiul National Bethlen Gabor, Aiud

Due to the significance of the human capital development, the additional income that can be achieved by the development of this side of the society, we must identify the influencing factors that influence this activity and its influences direction. A main direct influence over the investment in the human capital forms the economy’s general position. In an economy in transition, the incomes achieved on the labour market by the middle school graduates are very small and the labour offer for this category of graduates is in continue decrease. These are the reasons why more and more young people, especially those less than 25 years old, decide to continue their studies, even in the situation in which their family’s income is too small and the schooling offer is unfavourable. The second influence factor may be considered the income achieved by the young people that graduated with higher studies in comparison with the income of the middle school graduate’s. This element tripled the number of the young people that sign in to different education forms, after graduating from high school. There are a small number of people that follow different forms of the superior education at an advanced age; they will have a lower efficiency due to the short time they will benefit by the obtained diploma, so the earnings will be lower too. A third influence factor is represented by the expenses. As lower the costs are, as higher the number of the people interested in this kind of investment. The real problem is the way of covering the expenses, problem that belongs to the family of the young people wanting to study.

17. Promotion of human fund by offering a basic qualification, Prof. Helga LORINCZ, Colegiul National Bethlen Gabor, Aiud

The human resources politics are built on the base of the European Social Charta foresights, reflecting the practices used by the European Union. One of the most important goals is the promotion of an education based on finalities defined by viable competency on the labor market. The professional, high school- technologic affiliation, post-graduate and university education reform is registered as a decisive indicator in the ensemble of the educational reorganization, being one of the four main components of the reform, next to the growth in quality of the base education, secondary education and improving the financial system’s, management. The Romanian professional, high school-technologic affiliation, post-graduate and university reform’s, main objective is the realization of professional forming at the level of the European Union, corresponding to a democratic society’s requirements, to a market economy, in conformity with the development of the Romanian labour market, for the economic reorganization’s facility. Therefore, a flexible professional training program is created, in relation with the general reform process of the Romanian education, through which to increase the occupational mobility and the personnel’s grade of adaptability to the technical and technological development. The professional, high school- technologic affiliation, post-graduate and university education, has in sight the provisions of Education Law, the tradition of the Romanian education, our countries positive experience in the domain, the achievement and development purposes of this form of education in European Union countries and worldwide.

18. Fondurile Structurale – factor de dinamizare a competitivităţii prin inovare a economiei româneşti, Dr. Andreea-Clara MUNTEANU, CS III, Institutul de Economie

Naţională Economia naţională se confruntă în continuare cu un puternic deficit de competitivitate şi inovativitate. Aderarea la UE, impune mediului de afaceri dar şi specialiştilor din institutele de cercetare şi învăţământ noi abordări, menite pe de o parte creşterii capacităţii de absorbţie a resurselor disponibilizate de la bugetul european şi pe de altă parte stimulării creării factorilor de accelerare a dinamicii antreprenoriatului competitiv. Lucrarea se concentrează pe evaluarea exhaustivă a situaţiei României la momentul disponibilizării FS, urmărind să evidenţieze importanţa corelării politice şi economice a acestora cu realităţile naţionale.

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19. The significance of structural funds for the local and regional development of Romania, Dr. Mariana NICOLAE – BĂLAN, CS II, Drd. Brînduşa-Mihaela RADU, CS, Dr.

Dalina–Maria ANDREI, CS, Institute for Economic Forecasting, Romanian Academy The structural funds and policy compulsorily belong to structural policy in favor of development and partly against competition on the (common) market. But as for Romania this is the pre-incipient stage, meaning either accessing funds from the regional development of the eight existing agencies, or project selecting.

20. Turismul rural românesc în perspectiva dezvoltării durabile, Drd. Ionica HOLBAN (ONCIOIU), Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iaşi şi Academia de Studii Economice

Bucureşti In the European unification process, rural tourism is an important opportunity of becoming familiar with each others’ culture and life environment. Romania has a great potential for rural tourism, which must be fully employed during the present integration phase. Therefore, one of the priorities of the Operational Regional Plan 2007 – 2013 is the sustainable development of local and regional tourism. The aim thereby is to increase the contribution of tourism to the development of the regions. Rural tourism in Romania, and the other European countries, represents a chance for the valorizing of existing touristy capital, most likely to succeed using the available European structural funds.

21. The determining factors for the absorbtion capability of the European Funds in Romania, Dr. Carmen Beatrice PĂUNA, Senior Researcher II, Ileana DUMITRESCU, Senior

Researcher III, Institutul de Prognoză Economică The absorption capability of the applicant for projects financed through European funds is determined by three main factors: the macroeconomic absorption capability – defined and measured in ratio to the Gross Domestic Product, the administrative absorption capability - refers to the capability of the central and local authorities to prepare plans, projects and programmes and the financial absorption capability - represents the capability of the central and local authorities to co-finance programs and projects funded through European funds.

22. Capacitatea de cofinanţare a proiectelor de mediu, Dr. Gabriela-Cornelia PICIU, CS III, Centrul de Cercetări Financiare şi Monetare „Victor Slăvescu”

The Structural Community Funds are the main tools of the E.U., representing an important complement of the national policies, an, both directly and through a lever effect, it contributes to the harmonious development of the E.U. as a whole, as well as to the promotion of a sustainable environment. For the current disparities reduction among the Member Countries, financial support is granted through the structural tools: the European Fund for Regional Development (FEDR), the European Social Fund (FSE) and the Cohesion Fund (FC). The Environmental Sectorial and Operational Program 2007–2013 is strictly correlated to the strategic national objectives foreseen in the National Development Plan (PND) which is based on the principles practices and goals followed at the E.U. level, reflecting both the international Romania’s obligations, and the specific national interests. 23. Dincolo de limitele zonei Euro - ierarhizarea cursului de schimb, Asist. Univ. Drd., Roxana Mihaela PIVODĂ, Universitatea “Spiru Haret”, GULIE Alexandra Emanuela, Colegiul

“Mircea cel Bătrân” It is well known that any international transaction made between two countries is accompanied by a mean of payment. The means of payment are represented by the national currency of every state that takes part at the transaction. A very important aspect of an international transaction is that the importer as well as the exporter must agree on the currency in which the transaction will be taking place. That is why during the transaction, the national currency of every country is changed into the international currency on which both countries agreed to use.

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24. Mix-ul factorilor determinanţi ai cursului de schimb Euro-leu, Asist. Univ. Drd., Roxana Mihaela PIVODĂ, Universitatea “Spiru Haret”, GULIE Alexandra Emanuela, Colegiul

“Mircea cel Bătrân” A very important aspect of an international transaction is that the importer as well as the exporter must agree on the currency in which the transaction will be taking place. That is why during the transaction, the national currency of every country is changed into the international currency on which both countries agreed to use. Another aspect that has to be considered is the convertibility of the currency on which the transaction will take place. The difference between the currencies is their amount of convertibility. Some of the currencies can also be used in the international transaction because of their high convertibility, and some of the currencies can be used only at national level. It is very important to mention that the report between two currencies, or the number of monetary units of a currency that are needed to buy one monetary unit of another currency is called rate of exchange, or currency exchange.

25. Câteva aspecte privind caracteristicile finanţării pe termen lung a economiei româneşti, Drd. Daniela POPA, Universitatea Româno Germană Sibiu

If we want to perform a comparative analysis regarding the dimension of long term financing in Romania we should refer to a range of indicators, such as: the number of local financing institutions, the number and the structure of Romanian enterprises, the development of the instruments for long term financing, the influence of the external commerce, the possibilities of financing economical sectors, the dimension of long term financing in total financing in Romania, the influence of the investments over the long term financing. Whereas small investors’ financial decisions are concerned with how to invest money, businesses typically need to raise money to finance their investments in real assets: plants, equipment, technological know-how, etc. Broadly speaking, there are two ways for businesses to raise money: they can borrow it, either from banks or directly from investors by issuing bonds, or they can take in new partners, by issuing stocks, which are ownership shares in the firm. Due to the fact that the entrepreneurial sector in Romania is a very important one in the economy and that it grows rapidly, a survey of the credit market for this sector should take in consideration the evolution of this market and its participation to the macro economical indicators. We already saw that in 2006, credit for small companies was only 36.51% of the total credit for the private sector, these companies contributed with 55% at the making of IBP. Comparable to EU members, in Romania this sector is very small. This paper tries to analyze the impact of long term financing in last years over the financial market in Romania and why is so necessarily to use the capital market as a mean to improve the quality and quantity of long term financing here. 26. Consideraţii privind finanţarea pe termen lung şi politica socială în România, Drd.

Daniela POPA, Universitatea Româno Germană Sibiu The social policy of the government represents a group of objectives and analysis instruments through the public power is enable to realize the distribution of the public resources from the perspective of social rights. And from this definition we can understand that social policy could solve economical, social and political conflicts. But the importance of social policy is reflected in its goals, such as: building a social protection system with it implication on pensions, unemployment and social security; insuring a minimum wage and the right to work; establishing the work time and insuring shelter; education; health services; other activities regarding free time and cultural aspects. The social policy is intimately linked with economical development. The economical competition is concentrated not only on technical and technological development, but also on labor force, that must be well trained and specialized. The expenses regarding education should be regarded as an investment in human resources. These entire objectives must be financed. Companies apply the good and old principle of financing the investment from long term sources. Why do not apply this principle for financing social policy? This paper tries to define social policy, to explain its objectives, to determine some essential elements needed for it and the sources of long term financing needed for applying it on a general level.

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27. Structural Funds – a way of coping with the new challenges of the EU Cohesion Policy 2007-2013, Lector Dr. Costin Octavian SORICI, “Ovidius” Univesity of Constanţa

The paper analyses the new status of the Cohesion Policy during the period 2007-2013 in the light of the new reforms undertaken in order to meet the new challenges of the next decades. The main aim of the cohesion policy for the period 2007-2013 remains to reduce disparities between Member States and regions through a concentration of resources on the less developed areas. However, in line with the new growth and jobs agenda and in the context of globalization, cohesion policy is putting increasing emphasis on improving the competitive position of regions in world economy. Thus, structural funds and other resources are focused on all the regions copping with structural adjustment and on investment with a particular emphasis on the cluster of activities around research, innovation, and information society and business development. The real added value brought in by the structural instruments is to be measured according to certain criteria, such as the contribution to the achievement of Gothenburg and Lisbon Strategies, contribution in coping with the new challenges of the European Union, etc. Therefore, Romanian policy-makers have to examines the new context in EU, to understand the new challenges and to create proper strategies, integrated in the community strategic priorities, assuring an optimum absorption of Structural Funds and other financial resources allocated for Romania during 2007-2013, in order to increase the competitiveness of Romanian Regions and to adapt to the new European and global context. 28. Protecţia mediului înconjurător în România - principalul obiectiv al momentului,

Dr. Marius-Răzvan SURUGIU, CS III, Dr. Raluca-Cristina MAZILESCU, CS III, Dr. Petru MAZILESCU, CS III, Institutul de Economie Naţională, Bucureşti, Dr. Camelia SURUGIU, CS,

Institutul Naţional de Cercetare - Dezvoltare în Turism, Bucureşti În prezent, mediul înconjurător este ameninţat de fenomene specifice civilizaţiei moderne, indiferentă la efectele negative ale cuceririlor tehnico-ştiinţifice. Identificarea măsurilor de reducere a poluării reprezintă o problemă de maxim interes, degradarea atmosferei, a solului şi apei ameninţând viitorul planetei şi alterând calitatea vieţii. Secolul XXI este caracterizat de mari descoperiri în domeniul ştiinţei şi tehnicii şi de transformări ale civilizaţiei, cu efecte complexe asupra vieţii. Ca urmare a exploziei demografice şi a dezvoltării diverselor ramuri de activitate, necesarul de materii prime şi de energie pentru producţia de bunuri a crescut considerabil. Cu toate că modernizarea proceselor tehnologice au contribuit la diminuarea substanţială a consumului specific de materii prime, creşterea volumului şi diversificarea producţiei de bunuri, realizate pe baza unei exploatări intensive a resurselor au condus la apariţia unor dezechilibre ecologice. Exploatarea neraţională a materiilor prime are efecte negative, dăunătoare asupra omului şi cadrului natural în care acesta trăieşte. Progresul tehnologic precum şi viteza cu care au loc schimbările în societatea de azi nu trebuie să ne oprească de la a trage un semnal de alarmă legat de situaţia mediului înconjurător. Depistarea unor soluţii optime pentru depozitarea şi reciclarea reziduurilor rezultate ca urmare a activităţilor industriale, casnice etc. este de actualitate şi trebuie să devină o prioritate atât pentru instituţiile publice cât şi pentru cele private, acumularea acestora conducând la alterarea calităţii mediului şi înrăutăţirea stării de sănătate a populaţiei. Protecţia mediului poate fi considerată drept o necesitate a progresului societăţii. Se impune astfel adoptarea unor măsuri de conservare a calităţii mediului şi de combatere a efectelor negative ale activităţii umane, mai ales prin intermediul investiţiilor de mediu. 29. Funding the European Neighborhood Policy, Alina Anghelina TIMOAŞCĂ, PhD student – Doctoral School of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, „Alexandru

Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi Within the general context of ENP, the cross-border cooperation (CBC) is operating for the benefit of both sides of the EU’s external borders, being founded from both external and internal headings of the EU budget. Drawing on earlier CBC experience under TACIS, MEDA, PHARE and INTERREG, the current policy and implementation framework on the external borders of the EU was incorporated in the new European Neighborhood Partnership Instrument (ENPI). The core objective of CBC is to support sustainable development along both sides of EU’s external borders, but also to promote economic and social development in these areas, to address common challenges in fields such us environment, public health, fight against organized crime, ensure efficient and secure borders and promote local cross border “people to

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people” actions. Individual partner countries have responded differently to the challenges and opportunities specific to CBC. One policy element of significant importance for a successful implementation of CBC programmes is represented by the institutional capacity of local and regional authorities to be part of this kind of cooperation. For instance, according to the Strategy Paper 2007-2013 (Commission, 2006), regional and local authorities in Ukraine and Moldova have relatively limited power and executive and administrative structures are characterized by a high level of centralization at all levels. The EU’s eastern borders run between eight member states and five neighborhood countries, representing about 5000 km, from Barents Sea in the North to the Black Sea, in the South. These borders cover regions with very different geographic, economic and social characteristics and experiencing very significant income gaps, which might even increase following the latest enlargement. As an eastern border of the European Union, Romania has both the opportunity and responsibility of developing strengthened cross-border cooperation relations with Moldova and Ukraine, and with the Black Sea Basin countries in order to fulfill the priorities set through the action plans. 30. Rolul fondurilor structurale în dezvoltarea activităţii antreprenoriale în România,

Daniela ZIRRA, Conf. Univ. Dr., Universitatea Româno-Americană Fondurile structurale reprezintă o oportunitate deosebită de care beneficiază România în perioada actuală. În primul rând, trebuie să menţionăm aportul semnificativ la diversificarea surselor de finanţare, de care pot beneficia actorii care-şi desfăşoară activitatea în toate segmentele vieţii economico-sociale, indiferent de dimensiunea acestora. În al doilea rând, notăm aportul proiectelor finanţate din fonduri europene la creşterea calităţii vieţii, prin implementarea proiectelor care vizează dezvoltarea infrastructurii. În acelaşi timp, activitatea antreprenorială, ca vector principal al creşterii economice şi al competitivităţii, poate fi stimulată decisiv prin accesarea fondurilor structurale specifice, destinate atât sectorului întreprinderilor mici şi mijlocii, cât şi micilor întreprinzători. Însă, nu trebuie să uităm că acest obiectiv se poate realiza doar dacă resursele umane implicate în accesarea fondurilor au un nivel înalt de pregătire şi un set de cunoştinţe specifice, adaptat noilor cerinţe ale mediului de afaceri.