The Impact of Structural Funds on Real Convergence in Eastern Europe

This analysis is based on the economic and social cohesion policies of the European Union, evoked by the following objective: "promotion of a balanced economic and social progress [...] by strengthening the economic and social cohesion and by establishing an economic and monetary union with a single currency" 1. To achieve this objective, each Member State will have to contribute to the reduction of social-economic disparities and to boost regional competitiveness, thus implicitly, to achieving convergence. An important element of convergence in the analysis of economic development and in the fading-out of regional economic differences is represented by the growing rate of GDP per capita. Therefore, in this paper, we will evaluate the possibility of achieving real convergence in Romania, Poland and Bulgaria, in the light of the existing national data and of the factors directly influencing GDP, but also of European financing and the socio-economic factors designed to reduce disparities through the cohesion policy.