Research in progress · 2007–2027
20 years of European funds in Romania.
What we built. What worked. What was left behind.
Fondurile Uniunii is a research platform dedicated to twenty years of European funding in Romania (2007–2027). Through data, analyses, maps and stories, the project explores how European investments have shaped Romania’s economic, social and territorial development, highlighting both their results and their limits.
Site under construction. The research is carried out in stages. Results will be published here as they are verified.
The periods covered by the research
2007–2013
First programming period after accession. Spending was eligible until the end of 2015.
2014–2020
Second programming period. Spending was eligible until the end of 2023.
2021–2027
Current programming period, still under way. Its results are not yet known.
PNRR — National Recovery and Resilience Plan, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility: a separate instrument with its own rules, not a cohesion policy programming period.
01 · About the project
What have two decades of European funding changed in Romania — and how effective were these investments?
The research is retrospective, interdisciplinary and evidence-based. It does not assume that the impact was only positive or only negative. It separates money spent from immediate results and from long-term effects.
It follows the evolution of allocations, contracting, payments and absorption, the territorial distribution of investments, their effects on infrastructure, the economy, education, culture, the environment and communities, and the role of administrative capacity in what was achieved and what lasted.
Fondurile Uniunii is not a government portal, a funding consultancy or a campaign about the benefits of European funds. It is an independent editorial and analytical space.
02 · What we will publish
In stages, as the research advances
Each section will be published once its content has been verified. Until then, this page only sets out what the project intends to do.
01 · In preparation
Data and visualizations
Allocations, contracting, payments and absorption, shown separately, with the source and date of every figure.
02 · In preparation
Analyses
Economic interpretation and assessments by programme, sector and funding period.
03 · In preparation
Maps
How investments were distributed across regions, counties, cities and rural areas.
04 · In preparation
Stories
Case studies about communities, organisations, small businesses and local projects — including the ones that did not go to plan.
05 · In preparation
Methodology and sources
Where the data comes from, how the indicators are defined and what they cannot show.
03 · How we work
Rigour matters more than spectacular figures
Verifiable sources
Every figure links to its public source and states the date the data was extracted.
Explicit definitions
Allocation, contracting, payment and absorption are defined and never used interchangeably.
Stated limits
We say what the data cannot show: gaps, revisions, changes in methodology, missing years.
Editorial independence
We look at results as well as failures and missed opportunities, without promotional language.