PR North-West STEP: deadline extended to 2 November for €20.95 million in strategic technologies

Companies in the North-West Region that want to research, develop or manufacture strategic technologies (digital, clean or biotechnologies) now have more time to submit projects. On 8 October 2026 the Managing Authority of the North-West Regional Programme published Corrigendum No. 2 to Applicant's Guide 961. It moves the closing date of call PRNV/2026/961/1 from 12 October to 2 November 2026, 10:00. The corrigendum also changes a few eligibility and evaluation conditions, which anyone with a project already under way needs to take into account.

In brief

• Programme: North-West Regional Programme 2021-2027, Guide 961 "Supporting projects with applicability in the STEP areas in the North-West Development Region", call PRNV/2026/961/1
• Authority: North-West Regional Development Agency (Regio Nord-Vest), acting as managing authority
• Beneficiaries: companies established under Law No. 31/1990, with their registered office in the North-West Region by the date of the first payment at the latest
• Budget: €20,950,000 allocated under Priority 9 "A region supporting STEP", following the update made by Corrigendum No. 1
• Value per project: the minimum and maximum values are set in the guide, and footnote 14 of section 5.4 was amended by Corrigendum No. 2. Check version 3 of the guide.
• Submission period: 28 August 2026, 10:00 – 2 November 2026, 10:00, in MySMIS2021/SMIS2021+
• Status: call open, competitive with a deadline; the consolidated guide v3 is dated 8 October 2026

What has changed under Corrigendum No 2?

In addition to the new deadline, the corrigendum amends several sections of the guide:

• section 4.3.2: the closing date and time of the call (2 November 2026, 10:00);
• sub-chapter 5.2.1: eligibility criterion EG5;
• section 5.4: footnote 14, on the minimum and maximum eligible project value;
• section 7.6: the annexes and documents required at contracting;
• section 8.5: how the quality threshold is applied.

The annexes have also been updated: the eligibility verification grid (Annex I), the ETF grid (Annex II.1), the Single Declaration (Annex III.1), the financial analysis and forecast template (Annex III.5, with the InforEuro rate corrected), the MySMIS2021 completion instructions (Annex VI) and the list of output and result indicators (Annex X). The changes apply from the publication of the corrigendum on regionordvest.ro.

What can be financed?

According to the launch announcement, the call combines several types of activity, each under its own state aid basis:

• research and development (Art. 25 GBER): industrial research and/or experimental development with in-house staff, between TRL 3 and TRL 8, contracted research, research infrastructure, feasibility studies;
• production in the STEP areas (Art. 14 GBER, Priority 9): creating, expanding or modernising production capacity through machinery, equipment and other tangible and intangible assets;
• complementary production (Priority 1, SO 1.3, SMEs only): the same types of investment, for technologies that support the STEP areas;
• innovation (Art. 28 GBER, SMEs only): patents and intellectual property protection, secondment of skilled staff, innovation consultancy services;
• energy (Art. 41 GBER): capacity to produce energy from renewable sources and storage, sized according to the needs of the funded infrastructure;
• de minimis: design, consultancy, information and publicity.

One essential condition: the project must include at least one production activity. The intensity of support differs depending on the activity and the state aid scheme that applies.

Who can apply?

Companies established under Law No. 31/1990, with their registered office in the North-West Region (the counties of Bihor, Bistrița-Năsăud, Cluj, Maramureș, Satu Mare and Sălaj) by the date of the first payment at the latest, can apply. Some components are reserved for SMEs: complementary production under Priority 1 and innovation activities. The corrigendum changed criterion EG5, so if you have already checked eligibility against the August guide, you need to redo it against version 3.

What this means for your business

Our recommendation: the extra three weeks are most useful for companies that would not have finished their documentation by 12 October. They are not, however, enough time to start a project from scratch if you do not already have the technology, the financial analysis and the equipment quotes.

• Redo the financial template on the new Annex III.5. An old template, using a different InforEuro rate, can produce differences in the budget and the indicators.
• Re-read footnote 14 and section 8.5. The value ceiling and the way the quality threshold is applied directly affect how large the project can be and whether it passes evaluation.
• Show clearly how you fit within STEP. The production component is mandatory, and the link to digital, clean or biotechnologies must be demonstrated in concrete terms, not merely declared.
• Do not leave uploading until the last day. The deadline expires on 2 November at 10:00 in the morning, not at midnight.

If you are not sure which category your company or project falls into, start with the eligibility check.

Frequently asked questions

Until when can projects be submitted under the PR North-West STEP call?

Following Corrigendum No. 2, funding applications for call PRNV/2026/961/1 are submitted in MySMIS2021/SMIS2021+ until 2 November 2026, 10:00. The original deadline was 12 October 2026.

How much money is available?

Priority 9 "A region supporting STEP" has an allocation of €20,950,000, set by Corrigendum No. 1 after the programme was updated to version 8.0. The call also uses Priority 1 (SO 1.3) for the complementary production of SMEs.

Can large companies apply too?

The guide covers companies established under Law No. 31/1990, with no general restriction to SMEs. However, complementary production under Priority 1 and innovation activities are reserved for SMEs. The exact conditions by category of enterprise are in guide v3.

Do I need to redo my application if I started it on the old guide?

Yes, for the parts affected. Corrigendum No. 2 amends criterion EG5, the ceilings in footnote 14, the quality threshold and several annexes, including the Single Declaration and the financial template. Use the updated versions published on 8 October 2026.

Official sources

• Regio Nord-Vest – Corrigendum No. 2 to Applicant's Guide 961
• Regio Nord-Vest – call 961 page (guide v3 and annexes)
• ADR Nord-Vest – The call for proposals dedicated to investments in strategic technologies (STEP) is open
• Regio Nord-Vest – Corrigendum No. 1 (call budget)
• EU Opportunities (MIPE) – announcement of Corrigendum No. 2

Information checked on 9 October 2026. Conditions may be changed by the managing authority — check the guide in force before you submit.