EIRP Proceedings, Vol 9 (2014)

Abstract

The new philosophy of community development under the aegis of Europe 2020 strategy requires increased coordination and better interconnection between European financial instruments available for 2014-2020 programming period. The desire of the EU to be cohesive and unitary face a large spectrum of complex and correlated challenges such as: globalization; climate change; technological transformation; aging and demographic change and etcetera. These challenges together with the polyvalence of the integration process (deepening - widening - enlargement) determines the orientation of European Structural and Investment funds to integrated, multi-sectorial and multi-dimensional solutions. In this context, in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of European policies, the review, management and optimization of the European budget is crucial. This paper attempts to demonstrate the appropriateness structure of the EU budget and the extent to which this budget is a supporter and a guarantor of economic development of the EU as a whole, and of each individual Member State. This research examines how the EU budget manages to counter the financial crisis and analyses the aspects that can be improved and the prospects for the next period.