The three-dimensional impact of the absorption effects of European funds on the competitiveness of the SMEs from the Danube Delta

The Danube Delta, declared a Biosphere Reserve, has been a permanent challenge in terms of harmonizing the economic activities with landscape conservation and development interests. Through public and environmental policies, but also through the development plans of the area, it was attempted to optimize the relationship between the functioning of the biosphere (whose natural integrity should be preserved), on the one hand, and the human activity exploiting the resources, on the one hand. The Structural Funds have made a major contribution to achieving this goal, being aimed mainly at meeting the European standards on the environmental protection and economic development of the area, while respecting its biodiversity and the inhabitants’ general interest in improving the life quality in the Danube Delta. This paper aims at determining the economic, social or environmental effects of the SMEs from the Danube Delta, as a result of the absorption of European funds, and their impact on competitiveness. By formulating three hypotheses, we determined the impact of the identified effects on competitiveness. The research method consisted in a quantitative investigation based on an assessment questionnaire, as the main tool, addressed to the SMEs from the Danube Delta that benefited from structural funds. The hypotheses were validated by calculating the correlations between the identified variables and competitiveness. The results showed which effects contributed more to the competitiveness of these companies. The comparison of the relationship between the economic, social and environmental effects, on the one hand, and the internal factors that determine competitiveness, on the other hand, represented one of its multidimensional measurements. In conclusion, the results revealed a strong connection between the economic, social and environmental effects and the competitiveness of the SMEs from the Danube Delta, emphasizing that the access of structural funds should be enhanced in the next period.