In a letter dated 28 May sent to the Permanent Representative of Romania to the Council of Europe, the President of the Conference of International NGO and the President of its Expert Council on NGO Law are sharing concerns regarding the recent legislative proposal (L233/2026) to amend Government Ordinance No. 26/2000 on associations and foundations.
The proposed amendments would in particular impose a general obligation on all non-governmental organisations to submit annually a declaration regarding all revenues and sources of funding from the previous year, irrespective of their origin, including the identification details of donors, whether natural or legal persons.
The letter points out that State institutions in Romania already obtain this information in a variety of ways and that any non-compliance with this additional requirement would then lead, in the first instance, to the automatic suspension of the activities of the organisation concerned and then its dissolution after the lapse of a year. There is also a risk that organisations complying with the requirement to make a declaration be stigmatised on account of the source of some of their funding. Overall, the legislative proposals are found unnecessary, arbitrary and disproportionate nature of the proposals and that they run counter to both the right to respect for private life and the right to freedom of association under Articles 8 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
