In brief

  • Microenterprises become eligible for the SME Eco-Tech programme, financed from the second Swiss contribution. Until now, the procedure stated in black and white that microenterprises are not eligible.
  • The change is a single letter in the procedure, but it opens the programme to companies with fewer than 10 employees, which are the overwhelming majority of firms in Romania.
  • The programme has a budget of 54,041,886 Swiss francs, roughly 288.8 million lei, for a minimum of 800 beneficiaries, with contracts and payments running until 31 December 2027. It is awarded on a first come, first served basis.
Act: MEDAT Order no. 1.241/2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 671 of 13 August 2026
In force from: 13 August 2026

A company with three employees that wanted Swiss money for a more efficient machine used to get the same answer: this programme is not for you. From 13 August 2026, the answer changes. Order no. 1.241/2026 of the Minister of the Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 671 of 13 August 2026, amends a single letter in the procedure of the SME Eco-Tech programme, and that letter was precisely the one keeping microenterprises out of the game. It is the second funding opening for small firms this month, after the Diaspora Invests at Home programme, with grants of up to 200,000 euro.

SME Eco-Tech is the programme through which Romania uses the second Swiss non-refundable financial contribution, under the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme. Its declared purpose is to support private manufacturing companies in making green and digital investments, with an effect on their environmental footprint, productivity and competitiveness.

The implementation procedure had been approved in June 2025, by Order no. 1.392/2025, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 583 and 583 bis of 23 June 2025. It set out the cumulative eligibility criteria at point 3, subpoint 3.2.

The order of 13 August 2026 has three articles and rewrites only letter b) of that subpoint. The Competition Council issued its opinion on the draft on 4 August 2026.

What it changes in practice

Microenterprises also show up in a second funding line, this one from the Just Transition: 37.8 million euro more for six counties, Galați excepted.

Microenterprises are in the programme. The new letter b) provides that beneficiaries must fall within the category of microenterprises, small enterprises or medium-sized enterprises, in accordance with Law no. 346/2004 on stimulating the setting-up and development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The explicit ban disappears. The previous wording of letter b) referred only to small or medium-sized enterprises and added a sentence that left no room for doubt: microenterprises are not eligible under the programme. That sentence is gone.

The practical difference is large, because the threshold is 10 employees. Under Law no. 346/2004, a microenterprise has up to 9 employees, a small enterprise between 10 and 49, and a medium-sized enterprise between 50 and 249, with matching turnover and total-asset thresholds.

The other eligibility criteria are untouched. The company must be registered under Law no. 31/1990, have fully private share capital, have recorded turnover above zero in the reference tax year and undertake to keep it positive, and its main activity must fall under one of the priority CAEN codes listed in the procedure.

The money is limited and goes out in the order applications arrive. The estimated budget of the scheme for 2025-2027 is 54,041,886 Swiss francs, that is 288,843,072 lei at the exchange rate used when the implementation agreement was initiated, of which 70% is the Swiss contribution and 30% the ministry’s own contribution. Access works on a first come, first served basis.

The estimated number of beneficiaries matters more now that the door is open. The procedure estimates that de minimis aid will be granted to a minimum of 800 beneficiaries. With microenterprises in the running, competition for the same places becomes appreciably tougher.

The final deadline stays 31 December 2027. That is the cut-off date for signing contracts and making payments under the scheme.

The aid is de minimis, so it counts towards the general ceiling. A single undertaking cannot receive more than 300,000 euro over a three-year period, under European Regulation 2023/2831. Anyone who has already drawn de minimis aid has to add it up.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Until the order of 13 August 2026, the procedure excluded microenterprises in so many words. Letter b) of subpoint 3.2 referred to the category of small or medium-sized enterprises and added, in capital letters in the official text, that microenterprises are not eligible. It was not an oversight but a policy choice, now revised.

The new wording adds microenterprises at the start of the list and drops the exclusion sentence. The rest of the letter is unchanged: the reference to annex no. 3 to the procedure and to Law no. 346/2004.

The order does not touch the other letters of subpoint 3.2, nor the rest of the procedure. The eligible CAEN codes, the reporting obligations, the rules on the single undertaking, the private capital requirement and the de minimis ceilings remain those set in 2025.

One drafting inconsistency survives, and the order leaves it alone: the introductory sentence of subpoint 3.2 still speaks of companies defined as small or medium-sized enterprises, even though letter b) now covers microenterprises as well. The text reads correctly only when the two are taken together, and it is the amended letter that settles the category.

The programme is still financed from the same sources: the agreement between the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, signed on 19 September 2024, and the implementation agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the ministry, signed on 4 December 2024, both under Government Emergency Ordinance no. 120/2023.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • Companies with fewer than 10 employees, the bulk of Romanian business, gain access to funding from which an express provision had shut them out.
  • Green and digital investment becomes reachable for exactly the segment that has the hardest time getting bank credit.
  • The amendment is simple and adds no new conditions for the beneficiaries who were already eligible.
  • The direct reference to Law no. 346/2004 leaves the ministry no room to read the company category its own way.
  • The programme has a long implementation horizon, until 31 December 2027, so there is time to put the applications together.
  • The Competition Council’s opinion was obtained before the order was issued, which lowers the risk of a later blockage on state aid grounds.

What remains a problem

  • The budget does not grow along with the number of eligible applicants, so the same pot is split between more of them.
  • The first come, first served principle works against small firms, which put their files together more slowly, precisely the ones newly admitted.
  • The introductory sentence of subpoint 3.2 was not brought into line and still refers only to small or medium-sized enterprises.
  • The order does not provide for a new application session, so it is not yet clear whether microenterprises will catch the current round or the next one.
  • The de minimis ceiling of 300,000 euro over three years applies per single undertaking, so groups of small companies have to add their aid together.
  • The requirement of fully private share capital and positive turnover still keeps out newly set-up companies and those with public shareholding.

Practical advice

  1. Check which category your company falls into under Law no. 346/2004, by number of employees and by turnover or total assets. A microenterprise has up to 9 employees.
  2. If you were turned down before because of the size of your company, take another look. That ground no longer exists in the procedure.
  3. Check the CAEN code of your main activity in good time. The programme funds only the priority sectors listed in the procedure.
  4. Work out how much de minimis aid you have received over the past three years, at the level of the single undertaking, not just of your own company. The ceiling is 300,000 euro.
  5. Have the file ready before the session opens. With first come, first served, it is the order of application that decides, not the quality of the project.
  6. Make sure you have fully private share capital and positive turnover in the reference tax year. These are cumulative conditions, not alternatives.
  7. Keep in mind the final deadline of 31 December 2027 for signing the contract and making the payments. A project that falls outside it cannot be reimbursed.

Frequently asked questions

What is the SME Eco-Tech programme?
A support programme for private small and medium-sized enterprises in manufacturing, financed from the second Swiss non-refundable financial contribution, under the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme. It funds green and digital investment.
What exactly has changed?
Letter b) of point 3, subpoint 3.2 of the implementation procedure. It previously referred only to small or medium-sized enterprises and said explicitly that microenterprises are not eligible. It now includes microenterprises among the beneficiaries.
What is a microenterprise?
Under Law no. 346/2004, an enterprise with up to 9 employees and an annual net turnover, or total assets, of up to the lei equivalent of 2 million euro.
How large is the programme’s budget?
54,041,886 Swiss francs for 2025-2027, the equivalent of 288,843,072 lei at the exchange rate used when the implementation agreement was initiated. Of that sum, 70% is the Swiss contribution and 30% the ministry’s own contribution.
How many beneficiaries are estimated?
The procedure estimates that de minimis aid will be granted to a minimum of 800 beneficiaries, and access to the funding works on a first come, first served basis.
Until when can the contracts be signed?
The deadline for signing the contracts and making the payments is 31 December 2027, according to the implementation procedure.
Is there a ceiling on the aid?
Yes. Being de minimis aid, a single undertaking cannot receive more than 300,000 euro over a three-year period, under Regulation (EU) 2023/2831. Aid received earlier is cumulated.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 671 of 13 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 100 KB the act starts on page 15

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.