PNRR no longer takes applications, and digitalisation grants have moved to the 2021–2027 regional programmes. Which calls are announced, what they cover and where a project can go wrong.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
If you have heard that “there is money for digitalisation”, you are probably thinking of the PNRR grants (Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan) of up to 100,000 euro. As a new opportunity they no longer exist: the ministry has finished signing the contracts. The money that can still reach an SME now comes mainly from the 2021–2027 regional programmes — each with its own call, guide and calendar, and the calendars often slip. Below you will find what was publicly known at the date of this article, which expenses are usually covered, how a project works in practice and where companies tend to stumble.
The Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE) announced that the process of signing financing contracts for the private-sector digitalisation measures under PNRR has ended. For SMEs (Component 9, Investment 3.1), 4,611 contracts were concluded: 4,559 for grants of up to 100,000 euro and 52 for grants of 500,000–3,000,000 euro intended for developing advanced digital technologies. Beneficiaries of the smaller grants were able to request an extension of the implementation period, and the deadlines of projects already under contract have been changed several times by ministerial orders — if you hold such a grant, follow the MIPE announcements, not general articles.
The practical conclusion: any offer along the lines of “the last PNRR call for digitalisation” deserves suspicion. The call is closed and no new applications can be submitted.
Each of the eight development regions has a regional programme managed by the regional development agency (ADR) of that region, and the calls for SME digitalisation are launched region by region, with their own rules. There is no single set of conditions: the budget, the grant amount, the eligible expenses and the deadlines are set out in the applicant’s guide of each call.
The path of a call usually looks like this: estimated calendar → guide in public consultation → final guide → online submission window in MySMIS2021 → evaluation → contract. Every stage can slip, and estimated calendars are not promises.
The situation below is the one in the MIPE calendar as updated on 16 September 2026, the last version before this article: all three calls had the status “in editing” (“în editare”), meaning they had not been launched.
| Programme / call | What was publicly known |
|---|---|
| PR Centru (Centre Region programme) — Action 2.2, Call 2, “Digital enterprises for an advanced economy” | The draft guide was in public consultation between 28 April and 20 May 2026. Allocation: 14,113,032 euro. The May calendar estimated submission in June–August 2026; in the MIPE calendar updated on 16 September 2026 the call was still shown as not launched, with an estimated period of November–December 2026. |
| PR Sud-Est (South-East Region programme) — Action 1.3, “Increasing the degree of digitalisation in SMEs” | In the MIPE calendar updated on 16 September 2026, the call (budget 9,090,204 euro, for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) was shown as not launched, with an estimated period of September–December 2026; separately, a similar call is planned for the ITI Danube Delta area. The final conditions must be read from the final guide of ADR Sud-Est. |
| PR București-Ilfov (Bucharest-Ilfov Region programme) — Action 1.7, “Support for advanced digital transformation of SMEs” | Announced budget: 25 million euro. The MIPE calendar updated on 16 September 2026 still placed the call in September 2026, but the programme’s own estimated calendar, reported by the specialist press in August, speaks of a guide in October and submission in December 2026. In the meantime the ADR launched a questionnaire for SMEs to help shape the call. The figures in circulation (25,000–200,000 euro per project, own contribution of at least 10%) come from selection criteria approved in 2024 and may be changed. |
Several similar calls have already closed — among them the ones in the North-East (pilot call, open from 6 November 2023, grants of 15,000–100,000 euro), South-West Oltenia (25 June–24 August 2024), Centru – Call 1 (2023–2024), North-West (autumn 2024) and West (from July 2025, into 2026). We use some of them below as examples of how it works, because their guides are public — not as open opportunities.
Separately from the regional grants, MIPE has an open call under the Smart Growth, Digitalisation and Financial Instruments Programme (PoCIDIF), worth 20,918,624.37 euro (30 April – 30 December 2026). The applicants are the seven approved EDIHs, not companies: an SME turns to a hub for support services. Conditions differ from hub to hub — for example, in a round before this call (December 2025), the DIGIVEST hub in the West Region offered SMEs free services, allocated in order of application, within a limit of 90 contracts. It is not a grant for buying software, but it can be a starting point (assessment, testing, skills).
Guides differ, but the same categories keep coming back from one call to the next:
Not everything “digital” qualifies. The guide says which technologies are targeted — for example, in the draft for Centru, data management and analysis systems (RPA, CRM, PLM, ERP), VR/AR systems, IoT, artificial intelligence solutions, digital communication with suppliers and customers (e-invoicing, for instance).
SME status. The European definition (Recommendation 2003/361/EC): a micro-enterprise has fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover or balance sheet total of at most 2 million euro; a small enterprise has fewer than 50 employees and at most 10 million euro; a medium-sized enterprise has fewer than 250 employees and turnover of at most 50 million euro or a balance sheet total of at most 43 million euro. If the company has partner or linked enterprises (e.g. it is part of a group), their figures must be added.
On top of that, each call adds its own conditions. A few examples from guides, so you know what to look for:
De minimis aid. Many calls grant the funding as de minimis aid. Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 sets the ceiling at 300,000 euro per “single undertaking” (the company together with its linked enterprises) over any period of three years, valid from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2030. The amount includes other de minimis aid received in the last three years — so note what you have already received, including what your linked companies have received.
The guide and the frequently asked questions published by ADR Nord-Est show what a small project means in concrete terms:
A new call can change any of these rules. The example only shows how much the guide matters.
Guides treat subscriptions differently, and the difference matters for any software sold on subscription:
| Call | What the guide says about subscriptions |
|---|---|
| North-East, pilot call 2023–2024 (closed) | Software paid monthly or renewed monthly (SaaS) can be purchased only for the implementation period and is recorded as a service. One-off licences, perpetual or for a fixed term, are paid in full during the implementation period. The ADR’s answers in the FAQ are not consistent on classification: in one, subscriptions fall under indirect expenses (capped at 7%), in another, under direct ones. |
| Centru, Action 2.2 Call 2 (draft guide) | Digital technologies can also be adopted through temporary software licences, on a subscription paid to a supplier at a certain frequency, for a fixed period. |
What to remember: eligible expenses stop when the project does. After that you pay for the subscription yourself, but the system must keep working — see the next point.
Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 (Art. 65) provides that the Member State must reimburse the contribution from the Funds for an investment in infrastructure or a productive investment (and in practice recovers it from the beneficiary) if, within 5 years of the final payment to the beneficiary (or within the period set out in State aid rules, where applicable), the productive activity ceases or is moved outside the NUTS 2 region that received the support; ownership of an item of infrastructure changes in a way that gives a firm or a public body an undue advantage; or a substantial change affecting the nature, objectives or implementation conditions of the project would undermine its original objectives. The period may be reduced to 3 years in cases concerning the maintenance of investments or of jobs created by SMEs, and the amount to be reimbursed is proportionate to the period of non-compliance. The rule does not apply where the productive activity ceases because of a non-fraudulent bankruptcy. The exact period and obligations (for example, maintaining the digital indicators) are those in the financing contract.
The grant does not cover everything. In the draft for Centru and in the information about Bucharest-Ilfov, an own contribution of at least 10% of eligible expenses appears, plus any ineligible expense. How the grant is paid (advance, reimbursement) and how long you have to finance from your own resources can be seen in the guide — work out your cash flow before you apply.
The Bucharest-Ilfov call has been postponed repeatedly, and its budget fell, according to the specialist press, from 35 to 25 million euro. The Centru call has slipped too in the MIPE calendar, from June–August to November–December 2026. Do not build your investment plan on an estimated date, and do not buy anything “in advance” without checking in the guide from when expenses are eligible.
Consultancy for writing the project is an eligible expense in some guides, but the caps matter. Ask for the contract in writing, ask what happens if the application is rejected, and check whether the solution supplier also has a role in preparing the studies — see the conflict-of-interest rules above.
Do not assume it does. In the North-East pilot call, the list of eligible expenses explicitly mentioned software applications for human resources, alongside financial management, supplier management, logistics, ERP or CRM; in the draft guide for Centru, the examples are RPA, CRM, PLM, ERP, VR/AR, IoT and artificial intelligence, and HR is not named explicitly. Time tracking as such is not named in the sources we consulted. Whether an HR system can be part of a project depends on the call’s list of activities and on the indicators the guide requires (for example, an increase in digital intensity). Ask the ADR helpdesk or your consultant in writing.
What you can prepare regardless of the answer: an offer that separates the modules, says whether it is a licence or a subscription and for what period it is paid, and a training plan (employee training is an eligible expense in the guides cited). If you are not yet sure what you want to digitalise, start from HR digitalisation explained for an SME, the criteria for choosing an HR programme and the real cost of a time tracking app.
Not for new applications. MIPE announced the end of contract signing; only projects already under contract are still running.
It depends on the call. Examples: 15,000–100,000 euro in the North-East pilot call (closed); 15,000–200,000 euro in the draft guide for Centru; 25,000–200,000 euro for Bucharest-Ilfov, a figure that may be changed. The general de minimis ceiling is 300,000 euro over three years.
Yes, in some calls, but only for the duration of the project. In the North-East, SaaS could be purchased only for the implementation period; the draft guide for Centru allows temporary licences on a subscription basis, for a fixed period. After the project ends, the cost is the company’s.
In several calls, ICT companies are excluded, and the draft guide for Centru extends the list to trade and agriculture. Check the list of excluded codes in the call guide, including authorised codes you do not use. For ICT SMEs that develop new products or services there is, separately, a national call under PoCIDIF (Action 2.1, “Development of new services/applications/products through innovation and adoption of advanced technologies”), with different rules — the deadline and conditions are in its guide.
Yes. The own contribution is at least 10% in the draft for Centru, plus ineligible expenses; how the grant is paid is set out in the guide.
Low-value State aid, exempt from notification to the Commission. The ceiling is 300,000 euro per “single undertaking” (the company together with its linked enterprises) over any period of three years (Regulation (EU) 2023/2831).
Not necessarily: micro-enterprises were eligible in some calls, but sometimes with restrictions — in the North-East, only for investments in urban areas. For Centru, the draft guide explicitly includes micro-enterprises (according to the specialist press, in both urban and rural areas), with at least one employee, although the MIPE calendar lists only small and medium-sized enterprises; check the final guide. The conditions on track record, profit and CAEN code matter as well, not only size.
Workly is not a funding programme and we cannot claim it is eligible in any particular call — that is decided by the guide of each call. If you are assessing an HR system as part of a project, we will prepare a detailed offer for the modules you need (time tracking, leave, payroll with SAGA export, documents). Prices are on request; you can find details on the pricing page, and for an offer you can write to us.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Funding programmes change often, and the binding conditions are those in the applicant’s guide of each call. Not legal, tax or EU-funds advice.
Six motivation levers ordered by cost, from clarity and fairness to benefits: what the law requires, what doesn't work, how to measure the effect, and a 90-day plan for an SME.
Recruitment agency, temporary work agent, your own job ad or referrals: when each makes sense, the rules for job ads, GDPR for CVs and the steps from offer to the first day of work.
Free, subscription or on-premise licence: how time tracking and HR apps are priced, what a subscription should include and what free options leave out. Plus frequently asked questions.
Workly newsletter
Get Workly news (new features and modules), the legislative changes that matter for HR and payroll, new document templates and the practical guides we publish on the blog, by email.
We'll show you how time tracking, payroll and the rest of the modules work for your company, in a short demo.
Request a demo