EU Funding

POC 2014-2020: the programme has ended. What it left behind and what replaces it

The Programul Operațional Competitivitate (Competitiveness Operational Programme) 2014-2020 is closed, its projects completed — this page is its honest archive and a map to the calls open now.

Programme fact sheet

Programme: Programul Operațional Competitivitate (POC) 2014-2020
Programme family: POC
Managing authority: MIPE — AM POC (formerly the Ministry of European Funds)
Status: ClosedChecked on 30 July 2026
Funding value: per the official applicant guide
Eligible beneficiaries: SMEs, Large companies

The programme's official applicant guide

Northdan Soft is a software supplier, not a funding consultancy, and is not affiliated with any managing authority or development agency. Programme information is indicative — always check the conditions in the programme's official applicant guide.

For close to a decade, the Programul Operațional Competitivitate — Romania's Competitiveness Operational Programme (POC) 2014-2020 — was the country's main source of EU competitiveness funding, with Priority Axis 2 dedicated explicitly to the ICT sector. The programme has ended and its projects are complete, yet its name still turns up constantly in searches, which is why we keep this archive page online. Here you will find, briefly and without false promises, what the software-relevant calls actually financed: Action 2.2.1 for innovative ICT products, Action 2.2.2 for SME digitalization (which never launched as a standalone call) and Action 4.1.1, the REACT-EU productive-investment call. More usefully for anyone researching Romania today, we show where each theme moved in the 2021-2027 period: the direct successor on ICT and digitalization is POCIDIF. Northdan Soft remained then what it is now — a software supplier, not a funding consultant — and on the calls open today our role is the technical component of the application file and the actual implementation.

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How we help

The status stated plainly

The very first section confirms that POC 2014-2020 is closed, so you do not waste time hunting for a submission form that no longer exists.

A map of the 2021-2027 successors

For every relevant POC action we point to the line that inherited its theme — from POCIDIF for ICT products to the SME digitalization calls.

Lessons for your next application

From how the POC calls actually ran, we extract the practical conclusions: what evaluators asked for, where projects stalled, what should be prepared early.

Technical input for the open calls

As a software supplier we prepare the technical offer and cost breakdown for files submitted on today's active lines, then deliver the project itself.

What POC was and what it funded on the ICT side

POC 2014-2020 was the operational programme through which Romania channelled EU funds into research, development and economic competitiveness, run by the managing authority within MIPE (the former Ministry of European Funds). Priority Axis 2, on Information and Communications Technology for a competitive digital economy, was the part that mattered directly to software companies and to firms wanting to digitalize.

Three actions from that axis are worth remembering. Action 2.2.1 financed the development of innovative ICT products, services and applications by SMEs in the sector. Action 2.2.2, designed for the digitalization of non-ICT SMEs, was approved by government decision but never launched as a standalone competitive call in its original form. Action 4.1.1, added through the REACT-EU mechanism, financed productive investments in 2022 — a call frequently mistaken for a digitalization scheme, which it was not.

How the programme ended

The 2014-2020 programming period has closed, with project implementation completed. There are no open POC calls and there will be none: the financial framework has been fully replaced by the 2021-2027 programmes.

For companies that ran POC projects, current relevance comes down to the durability period of the investments and the document archive. For everyone else, the value of this page is orientation: if you arrived here searching for POC funding, the honest answer is that you should be looking at the programmes active now.

What is open now in its place

POC's direct successor on ICT and digitalization is POCIDIF — the Smart Growth, Digitalization and Financial Instruments Programme 2021-2027 — which took over both the logic of innovative software products (Action 2.1, open to ICT SMEs) and the support for company digitalization. The theme of digitalizing non-IT SMEs was also carried forward by the PNRR C9 I3.1 call, now closed and in its implementation phase.

If you are preparing a file on any of the active lines, Northdan Soft comes in as the software supplier: a detailed technical offer, a budget broken down by eligible cost categories and the implementation itself. The administrative side of the funding application stays with you or your consultant — we answer for everything concerning the software product.

Frequently asked questions

Can projects still be submitted under POC 2014-2020?

No. The Competitiveness Operational Programme 2014-2020 is closed and its projects are finished. For financing digitalization or software products, the active lines belong to the 2021-2027 period — above all POCIDIF.

Which programme took over POC's role for software companies?

On the ICT side, the direct successor is POCIDIF 2021-2027: its Action 2.1 finances the development of innovative products and applications by SMEs with an ICT CAEN code, following the same logic under which POC 2.2.1 financed innovative ICT products.

Why does this page still exist if the programme is closed?

Because the POC name still appears frequently in searches, and anyone landing on outdated pages risks believing the calls are active. We prefer to say it clearly: the programme has ended, and this page points you to the lines that are open now.

Does Northdan Soft handle funding applications on the successor programmes?

No — we are not funding consultants and we do not write grant applications. We are a software supplier: we prepare the technical offer and budget for the file, then develop and deliver the financed solution, together with the documents needed at reimbursement.