THE NEW CONSTRUCTION FOR RECEIVING EUROPEAN FUNDS IN THE PROGRAMMING PERIOD 2021-2027.

The new operational programmes for the programming period 2021-2027 prepared by Romania in the context of EU Cohestion Policy have been recently approved by the European Commission. There have been 16 operational programmes created, that will be financed partly by European funds and partly by national contribution of Romania, summing up a total of 46 billion EUR. The non-reimbursable funds will be available to beneficiaries in the forthcoming period for implementing projects throughout the country and accomplishing investments in the healthcare system, transportation networks, modernisations of water infrastructure and energy systems, in educational infrastructure and tourism and for human resources development and business environment support. This article contributes to the specialty literature on European funds received by Romania as a Member State of the European Union, by presenting the new architecture of European funds set up for the period 2021-2027, the institutional framework put in place and the operational programmes prepared by the Romanian authorities and recently approved by the European Commission. We analyse the funds allocations per operational programmes and consider the main evolutions as compared to the construction used in the prior periods. The design of the operational programmes and the institutional framework underwent some distinctive changes with a view to simplify and make more efficient the process of accessing the EU funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]