The European social Fund in Romania – Qualitative research on the Project Management of the EU-funded Projects

This paper focuses on the implementation of the programmes within the European Social Fund in Romania and on the particularities of managing projects financed with the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development (SOPHRD), as well. In this regard, we undertook a piece of qualitative research with the project managers of some of the most important projects run in Romania so as to emphasize the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats encountered in developing them. The main results highlight the importance of being offered proper support by the SOPHRD programmes management authorities, the financial difficulties encountered in developing projects and last, but not least, the motifs of the low absorption rate of European funds in our country