The main objectives of this paper is to emphasize the important role played by Structural andCohesion Funds for business environment development, especially in times of economic downturn when thefinancial resources are difficult to access. Prior work regarding the promotion of good administration ofstructural funds in new member states was carried out by NGOs. The main methods employed for capturingthe research evidence consists in comparative analysis of the related work, and also in studying the capacityof absorption of European funds in the case Romania, especially from the SMEs perspective. The mainresults show that European Funds absorption is delayed and negatively influenced by a series of factors. Theimportance of European financial assistance through Structural and Cohesion Funds is undeniable, especiallyin times of financial crisis, so implications of this study are important to entrepreneurs, especially for SMEsbut also to policy-makers, because they can design the procedures of accessing this funds in order to easy thisprocess. The value of this paper ensues from the original approach of contradictory role played by Europeanfunds for Romanian business environment, because it represents the mirage of overcoming economic crisis.