The agriculture sector had at its disposal European funds worth 760 million euros last year, of which it managed to absorb just 20 million euros, i.e. only 3%.

The post-accession funds for 2007 were dedicated to the launch, the submission and the approval of projects, so that a first appraisal of the absorption will possible only at the end of 2008, or even in 2009.

The degree of absorption of European funds after the first year since Romania's accession to the European Union is half that of countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, according to a study published by the National Bank of Romania in March 2008.

Therefore, the absorption rate for Romania stood at 21.7%, compared with 42.9% for Hungary and 42.8% for Poland. Structural and cohesion funds were 32.7% absorbed, while only 3% of those destined for the agriculture sector and for rural development were used.

The allocation procedure for the funds on a reimbursement basis is one of the factors behind the low absorption rate this year.

"This year, the focus will be on launching, submitting and approving projects, with a first appraisal of the degree of absorption of structural and cohesion funds to be possible at the end of 2008 or even in 2009," said Stefan Ciobanu, head of the Authority for Coordinating Structural Instruments, a part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).

In Romania, the first funding launches took place at the end of 2007, and in the first three months of 2008.

The MEF representative explained that, by the end of this year, the first projects could be finalised, namely those for which a small amount of funding is needed, in the range of tens of thousands of euros.

Ciobanu also said the first launches were aimed at testing the accuracy of documents and the reaction of the applicants.

For 2008, Romania has at