Contribution of the European grants to development of an agricultural unit

Abstract

The study aims to highlight the positive influence of the European grant instruments developed in Romania. Our country is currently benefiting of the third European Union financial grant for the 2014-2020 period, and the second since its accession to the European Union in 2007. This current one occurs after the successful implementation of the pre-accession SAPARD program between 2000 and 2006 and the first post-accession EAFRD framework during 2007- 2013. The paper follows the course of an agricultural unit in Iasi County which has carried out, since 2012, a number of four investments with the support of the grant projects, the fourth being currently in the final implementation phase. The non-refundable amount of the four investment projects provided by the European Fund for Agriculture and Rural Development is 2,245,396.45 lei, equivalent to 501,775.78 Euro. All the four projects aimed at modernization of the vegetable production farm by purchasing of new and state-of-the art agricultural machinery and equipment. The authors have proposed to elaborate a case study materialized in this paper as a continuation of the previous research of this unit. Initial research tracked the evolution of the unit from the first investment to the end of the third implementation. The implementation of the fourth financing project required further research into the subsequent evolution of the agricultural operator. The unit under study is an example of good practice on terms of attracting the European grants available for farmers and their contribution to the development of the agricultural sector and the rural area in general at the level of the Member States or candidate countries.