PR North-East clusters: deadline extended to 23 November, €300,000–600,000 per project

Innovation clusters in the North-East Region have an extra month to prepare their projects: on 7 October 2026, ADR North-East amended the guide for call PR/NE/2026/P1/RSO1.1/1/4 "Innovative development of clusters". The submission deadline has moved from 23 October to 23 November 2026. The call has a budget of €2.35 million, and a project can receive between €300,000 and €600,000 in non-refundable funding, with support of up to 85% of the eligible value.

In addition to the deadline, ADR North-East has amended the eligibility conditions, the documents required at contracting and the evaluation grid. Anyone already working on a project should therefore check it against the consolidated guide of 7 October.

In brief

• Programme: North-East Regional Programme 2021-2027, Priority 1 "A more competitive, more innovative region"
• Call: PR/NE/2026/P1/RSO1.1/1/4 – Innovative development of clusters (Call 1)
• Authority: North-East Regional Development Agency (Managing Authority)
• Beneficiaries: associations or foundations that are both the owner and the operator (EMC) of an innovation cluster
• Total budget: 2,350,000 €, of which 1,997,500 € from the ERDF and 352,500 € from the state budget
• Value per project / intensity: €300,000–600,000 non-refundable, up to 85% of the eligible value
• Submission period: 23 September – 23 November 2026 (extended from 23 October)
• Status: call open, competitive; guide amended on 7 October 2026

What changed in the guide on 7 October?

According to the ADR North-East announcement, the following sections of the Applicant's guide were amended:

• Section 4.3 – the project submission period (the new deadline is 23 November 2026);
• Section 5 – the eligibility conditions;
• Section 5.1.1 – the eligibility of the applicant and partners;
• Section 7.6 – the annexes and documents required at contracting;
• Annex 11 – the technical and financial evaluation grid.

The details of each amendment are in the "Summary of amendments" document, published by ADR North-East together with the consolidated guide. The announcement does not say what exactly changed in the eligibility conditions and the scoring. For this reason, the conditions below, taken from the launch announcement of 25 August, must be checked against the consolidated guide before you submit.

Who can apply?

At launch, ADR North-East announced that associations or foundations registered in Romania under Government Ordinance No 26/2000 may apply, provided they are both the owner and the operator (EMC) of an innovation cluster. Also according to the launch announcement, the cluster had to have:

• at least 10 member enterprises;
• at least one public research organisation;
• a presence in the North-East Region (head office, branch or subsidiary).

The North-East Region comprises the counties of Bacău, Botoșani, Iași, Neamț, Suceava and Vaslui. Member companies do not receive the money directly. They benefit from the cluster's infrastructure and services.

What can be financed?

According to the launch announcement, two types of costs can be funded:

• cluster infrastructure: building or modernising premises and purchasing equipment for joint research, development and innovation activities;
• activities through which the cluster supports its members: events, workshops, conferences, training programmes, innovation consultancy services, promotion of the cluster, cooperation networks and European ESCA certification.

How and by when do you apply?

Projects are submitted during the period set out in section 4.3 of the guide, which now ends on 23 November 2026. The call is competitive: projects are ranked according to the technical and financial evaluation grid, that is Annex 11, which was also amended on 7 October. The exact cut-off time is in the consolidated guide (at launch it was 13:00), so please check it there.

What this means for your business

Our recommendation, as a consultancy firm:

• If you are a member company of a cluster in the North-East, ask the cluster's management entity whether it is submitting a project. The funded equipment and services will be used jointly, and companies involved from the start can influence what is purchased.
• If your project was nearly ready for 23 October, do not submit it on the old version of the guide. Compare the new Annex 11 with your project: a reworded criterion can change the score.
• Check the documents required at contracting in good time (amended section 7.6). A missing document at contracting can block the project even if you have won it.
• The budget is small: €2.35 million is enough for at most three projects at the maximum ceiling of €600,000. Competition is decided on score, so justify the members' shared need and the measurable results well.
• Plan your co-financing. The support covers at most 85% of the eligible value, so the remaining at least 15%, plus ineligible costs, must be secured by the applicant.

If you are not sure whether your organisation or the cluster you belong to qualifies, take the eligibility check or read the Programme sheet for the North-East clusters.

Frequently asked questions

Until when can projects for the North-East clusters be submitted?

Following the amendment of the guide on 7 October 2026, the submission deadline for call PR/NE/2026/P1/RSO1.1/1/4 is 23 November 2026. The original deadline was 23 October 2026.

How much can an innovation cluster receive?

A project can receive between €300,000 and €600,000 in non-refundable funding, and the support covers up to 85% of the eligible value. The total budget of the call is €2.35 million.

Can a company submit a project on its own under this call?

No. According to the launch announcement, the applicant is the association or foundation that owns and manages the innovation cluster. Companies take part as members of the cluster and use the funded infrastructure and services.

What should those who have already prepared their project do?

They should read the summary of amendments and the consolidated guide of 7 October 2026. Then they should check the eligibility conditions (sections 5 and 5.1.1), the documents required at contracting (section 7.6) and the evaluation grid (Annex 11), which have been amended.

Official sources

• ADR North-East – Amendment of the Applicant's guide for call P1 Innovative development of clusters (7 October 2026)
• Summary of amendments – Clusters Guide v2 (7 October 2026)
• Consolidated applicant's guide – Clusters v2 (archive)
• Regio North-East – page of call P1 Innovative development of clusters
• ADR North-East – €2.35 million funding for innovation clusters (launch announcement)
• EU Opportunities (MIPE) – announcement of the extension

Information checked on 8 October 2026. Conditions may be changed by the managing authority — check the guide in force before you submit.