Entrepreneurs in Harghita County could miss out on tens of millions. The County Council can act—if it wants to! NOW!
Miercurea Ciuc, April 29, 2026
Yesterday, April 28, 2026, ADR Centru published for public consultation the draft of the second call for proposals under Measure 2.2 of the 2021–2027 Regional Program for the Centru Region — “Digital Enterprises for an Advanced Economy.” More than €32 million is available, from which companies in the region can obtain non-reimbursable funding to introduce digital technologies: management software, ERP and CRM systems, AI-based solutions, e-commerce tools, automation, and cybersecurity. Up to €200,000 can be requested per enterprise, and for micro and small enterprises in Harghita County, the support intensity can reach up to 60% of eligible costs.
The problem is that the rules of the call are not tailored to the realities of the region’s less developed counties. The typical Harghita enterprise—small, often rural, without EU project experience and without its own consulting capacity—faces a set of conditions designed for the business environments of Brașov or Sibiu. The first call, implemented between December 2023 and July 2024, confirmed this trend: in terms of the ratio of submitted to contracted projects, Harghita County was significantly underrepresented compared to its demographic and economic weight.
Borboly Csaba, Vice President of the Harghita County Council, recognized the issue and submitted an official proposal to President Bíró Barna Botond, requesting to be mandated to represent the county in the public consultation process, whose deadline is May 20, 2026.
“If we do not act now, the consultation window will close within 15 working days, and the rules will remain unchanged for the entire programming period. The money will flow to where administrative and entrepreneurial capacity already exists—namely, to the region’s major urban centers. Harghita needs rules that compensate for the structural disadvantage with which we start,” said Borboly Csaba.
What exactly needs to be changed
The proposals point in three main directions. The first concerns territorial selection criteria: enterprises implementing projects in counties with a GDP per capita below the regional average—namely Harghita and Covasna—should receive 5–10 additional evaluation points. This approach is fully in line with the principle of territorial cohesion enshrined in Article 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which obliges member states to give special attention to regions facing structural disadvantages.
The second direction concerns access for rural micro-enterprises. The current call makes micro-enterprises eligible only if projects are implemented in urban areas, while Harghita’s economic structure is predominantly rural. If the modification is accepted and rural micro-enterprises are allowed to apply—at least in less developed counties—hundreds of companies in Harghita would gain access to this opportunity, from which they are currently entirely excluded.
The third direction concerns proximity-based technical assistance. ADR Centru offers free consultancy to applicants, but only from its headquarters in Alba Iulia. The proposal suggests making it mandatory within the call to organize local information sessions in counties below the regional development average—including in Miercurea Ciuc.
Why this matters now
The deadline for submitting feedback is May 20, 2026. Once the final call is published and the official application round opens, the rules will be fixed for the entire duration—no changes will be possible afterward. This is the only window through which Harghita County’s voice can influence how these funds are distributed.
If the proposed changes are accepted, entrepreneurs in Harghita will have a real chance to apply for up to €200,000 per project, largely non-reimbursable, to support their digital transformation. If nothing happens, the story of the first round will repeat itself: the vast majority of the region’s allocated funds will be won by companies in major urban centers, and Harghita’s economy will fall behind in the digital transformation currently taking place across Europe.
The Harghita County Council is monitoring the evolution of the process and will inform the public transparently about the results of the steps taken.
