Digitalization with or without EU recovery funds: what is worth doing anyway

Where PNRR and digitalization funding stand in October 2026

The Recovery and Resilience Facility, which funds Romania's PNRR, had a hard deadline: every milestone and target had to be met by 31 August 2026, and the European Commission makes its final payments by 31 December 2026 (European Commission, RRF). For companies, this means PNRR opens no new calls.

The PNRR call "Digitalizarea IMM-urilor" (SME digitalization), with grants of up to 100,000 euros per company, takes no new projects. Ministerial Order MIPE no. 964 of 23 June 2026 extended the implementation period of contracted projects to 31 July 2026 (MIPE). Companies with a running contract are closing payments and reports now, not starting anything new.

New money for digitalization now comes through the 2021-2027 cohesion programmes, each with its own guide and calendar:

These calendars change often: calls get postponed, guides change after consultation, budgets move between lines. The table reflects the situation on 17 October 2026. Before any decision, check the call on oportunitati-ue.gov.ro, on your regional agency's site and in the PoCIDIF calendar.

One note about us: we do not write grant applications and we do not consult on EU funds. For the application, work with a specialist grants consultant. We can be the supplier named in the project, for the process and systems work.

A grant changes the timing, not the need

A grant changes who pays and when. It does not change where the company loses time, where it makes mistakes and where it depends on one person. If invoices are re-keyed into accounting, quotes go out from a spreadsheet and only the warehouse manager knows the stock, that problem exists with EU money and without it. A good project is one you would do with your own money, perhaps smaller or slower. The grant makes it bigger or earlier.

The simple test: would you do this project without the grant? If the answer is no, the grant is buying something the company does not need.

What to digitalize anyway, in this order

1. The process that eats the most manual hours. Usually invoicing, order intake or bank reconciliation. Count the hours and the errors per month: that is the baseline you measure any investment against.
2. The obligations that cannot wait. In Romania, e-Factura has been mandatory for invoices between companies since 2024. If issuing and receiving invoices is still manual, start there. See how e-invoicing automation from the ERP works.
3. Data in one place. When the same customer or order lives in the ERP, the CRM and a spreadsheet, every decision starts with a check. An ERP-CRM integration often does more than one more new tool.
4. Accounts and access in the company's name. Domain, hosting, licences and code should belong to you, not to the supplier. It costs almost nothing at the start and a lot to fix later.
5. Only then, new tools: AI, apps, platforms. On a clear process with clean data, their effect can be measured. On a chaotic process, they only make the chaos faster.

The difference between automating a step and changing how the company runs is set out in process automation vs digital transformation.

The risks of a grant-driven project

A grant-driven project is one where the call, not the company's problem, decides the scope. The usual failure modes:

• You buy what is eligible, not what you need. The list of eligible expenses becomes the shopping list: laptops, licences, a new website, because they fit the budget, not because they solve a problem.
• The call deadline sets the project. Implementation is rushed to meet a submission or reporting date, and nobody looks at the process at all.
• The supplier comes bundled with the application. When the grants consultant also picks the supplier, nobody checks whether the solution fits the company.
• You pay first and get reimbursed later. Grants require an own contribution and often reimburse after payment. The company needs the cash until the money comes back.
• Obligations after the project. Guides usually require keeping the investment and reporting on it for a period after completion. A system nobody uses is an obligation, not a gain.
• The system is left orphaned. Once the file closes, nobody is responsible for it: no documentation, no training, no warranty.

How to prepare a project that works with or without funding

The sound order is to learn what has to change first, then look for the money. A process diagnosis gives you the process map, the baseline and the changes ranked by gain, in a written plan you keep. You can build it from your own budget, hand it to a grants consultant as the basis for an application, or keep it for next year.

• Describe the problem in hours, errors and money, not in technology.
• Split the project into stages that each work on their own, so you can stop or postpone without losing what is done.
• Ask for quotes with a clear scope and a written price per stage. Here is how we price.
• Put in the contract who owns the code, the data and the accounts.
• Keep the project independent of the call calendar: if the call slips, stage one can start anyway.

Summary

• PNRR funds no new SME digitalization projects: milestones closed on 31 August 2026 and the SME call's implementation ended on 31 July 2026.
• New funding comes through the Regional Programmes and PoCIDIF, each with its own guide and calendar. Check the official call before planning.
• Digitalize first where manual hours, mandatory obligations and scattered data cost the most, with or without a grant.
• If you would not do the project without the grant, do not do it with one.
• A written diagnosis works both ways: as your own plan, or as the basis a grants consultant builds the application on.