Objectives: the financing of the regional policy and, in general, of the economic and social cohesion from structural and cohesion funds is important by means of its effects, in terms of costs and net benefits, on Romania’s development;

Prior Work: this work continues previous research conducted for the MA thesis called “European Programs and Projects Management”;

Approach: the main methods that have been used were analysing the legal framework and other official European documents and observing their influence on Romania;

Results: While during the pre-accession period the financial instruments created by the EU for Romania had been designed after the model of structural and cohesion funds, exactly in order to prepare the national authorities for the reality implied by its membership, however, the EU common position on regional policy and coordination of structural instruments and documents further stated that the Romanian authorities do not yet have the adequate capacity to manage the structural instruments, which obviously has implications in terms of costs;

Implications: academics and researchers interested in the implementation of Romania’s National Strategy for Regional Development;

Value: the work is meant to assist customers (public and private bodies) in effectively implementing the projects financed with structural and cohesion funds;