In the context of internationalization and globalization of the
world economy, regional competitiveness is thoroughly debated by
politicians and policy makers, emphasizing measurable differences
between development regions, without any clear political or conceptual
framework. Romania’s accession to the European Union in 2007 provided
an opportunity to recover in terms of regional performance and economic
growth, namely structural funds as a form of nonrefundable European
financial help to disadvantaged regions of member states. Our research is
thus focused on analyzing the impact of structural funds’ absorption upon
regional competitiveness in Romania, using extensive data over a period
of seven years. Results show that EU funds critically influence the
competitiveness of Romanian regions, providing reliable data for policy
decision makers