Overview of the Romanian Rural Development Policy: 2007-2013

Abstract

Since 2007, Romania was given the chance to develop a system for implementing development projects by attracting substantial external funding. in the period 2007-2013 the financial intervention in the rural areas, as part of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), was a very consistent one (more than 10 billion euro). National Program for Rural Development 2007-2013 (NRDP) represents the strategy which presents the main characteristics of the financial support addressed to rural areas. The paper has two objectives: to explore the main problems NPRD 2007-2013 occurred and to discuss about its matching to the socio-economic reality of Romania. It consists in a desk-research, using secondary analysis on statistical reports and official documents as the methodological background. The data sources used are: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Interim report of National Rural Development Programme; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – General Directorate for Rural Development, The situation of the NPRD projects, recorded in monitoring tables; The National Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (consolidated version, December, 2013). Main results show important differences among NRDP interventions (measures). Some of them are in a good situation, but, in the same time, parts of them are delayed, facing huge difficulties from various reasons. On the other hand, our findings show that there is not a perfect match between the financial support programs and the Romanian rural reality. for the next period, in order to maximize the impact of the public intervention, Romanian authorities have to reconsider some key aspects of the programs, according more importance to the local characteristics of the rural areas.