In brief

  • Satellites in the 2 GHz band: the Senate finds that the proposed EU regulation complies with subsidiarity but not with proportionality, and asks for a clear operational role for ANCOM, criteria that measure the real capacity of the networks and a five-year transition instead of two for the current operators.
  • Chips, livestock, proteins: the opinions are favourable, with conditions: realistic transition periods and money for livestock farmers, trade rules that do not put European production at a disadvantage, and investment in the processing and storage of soya, rapeseed and sunflower.
  • Montenegro: the Senate supports the financial package for accession, provided that Romania’s allocations do not fall.
Act: Senate Resolutions no. 140/2026, no. 141/2026, no. 142/2026, no. 143/2026 and no. 144/2026, on documents COM (2026) 311 final, COM (2026) 504 final, COM (2026) 576 final, COM (2026) 355 final and COM (2026) 334 final
Published: Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 927 of 5 November 2026
In force from: 5 November 2026; the resolutions are opinions addressed to the European institutions and create no obligations for individuals or companies in Romania

On 2 November 2026 the Senate adopted five resolutions setting out its view on five documents of the European Commission, published in the Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) on 5 November 2026. Two of them concern proposals for regulations which, once adopted, will apply directly in Romania without a transposing law, as is now the case with the new European rules on the A1 form and the posting of workers. The other three concern Commission communications, that is, strategy documents that may later lead to legislative proposals.

The most critical is Resolution no. 140/2026, on the proposed regulation that moves to European Union level the authorisation of systems providing mobile satellite services in the 2 GHz frequency band. The Senate finds that the proposal complies with the principle of subsidiarity, meaning the problem is indeed better solved at European level, but not with the principle of proportionality: the means chosen go beyond what would be necessary. Specifically, the Senate wants the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) to keep an operational role in spectrum monitoring, in identifying interference and in adopting provisional measures in urgent situations, to have access to the operators’ technical data and to recover the costs it incurs. It points out that, in the form analysed by ANCOM, the state budget would collect nothing from the use of the 2 GHz band, even though the radio spectrum is property in the public domain of the state. It also asks for the transition period for the current operators to be extended from two to five years.

Resolution no. 141/2026 concerns the Chips Act 2.0, which would replace Regulation (EU) 2023/1781. The Senate finds that the proposal complies, in principle, with subsidiarity and proportionality and sees it as an opportunity to attract investment and to integrate Romanian companies into the European semiconductor value chains, provided that the criteria for access to funding are balanced.

Two opinions, no. 142/2026 and no. 143/2026, concern agriculture. On the EU Livestock Strategy, the Senate asks for animal welfare rules to be scientifically grounded, proportionate and accompanied by transition periods and financial support, and for European standards to be reflected in the Union’s trade rules, so that products imported from systems with weaker standards are not given an advantage. It insists on keeping livestock farming in mountain and less-favoured areas. On the Protein Action Plan, the Senate asks for investment in processing, storage and access to high-performing varieties of soya, rapeseed and sunflower, crops in which Romania has, according to the resolution, strategic potential for the European feed base.

Resolution no. 144/2026 concerns the financial package for the accession negotiations with Montenegro. The Senate supports it, but asks that the allocations of the current Member States, including Romania, should not be affected, and that the package should be finalised according to the actual date of accession and the final form of the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework.

What it changes in practice

The resolutions do not change any rule applicable in Romania. They are opinions of one chamber of Parliament in the political dialogue with the European institutions, provided for by Protocol No 1 on the role of national parliaments and Protocol No 2 on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, annexed to the Treaties. Nobody has new obligations and nobody gains any right from 5 November 2026.

The difference between the five lies in their legal basis. The first two, no. 140/2026 and no. 141/2026, are issued under Protocol No 2, because they concern draft legislative acts. The other three, no. 142/2026, no. 143/2026 and no. 144/2026, are issued under Protocol No 1, because they concern communications, which the Commission forwards to national parliaments on the date of publication, without a voting procedure or a deadline for a reply.

The text of the resolutions also draws a distinction in how they are forwarded. Resolutions no. 140/2026, no. 142/2026 and no. 143/2026 expressly provide that the opinion „se transmite instituțiilor europene” (is forwarded to the European institutions). Resolutions no. 141/2026 and no. 144/2026 provide only for publication in the Official Gazette of Romania.

What would happen if the European proposals are adopted

  • Satellite operators. If the regulation for the 2 GHz band is adopted as proposed, the rights of use are granted by the Commission, through a selection procedure at Union level, in return for a one-off financial contribution offered as a sealed bid and annual fees. The incumbent operators, Viasat and Echostar, whose rights expire, according to the proposal, in May 2027, may apply for a two-year extension.
  • ANCOM and users in isolated areas. The national authority would no longer grant the rights for this band, and its role in monitoring and enforcement would depend on the Commission’s implementing acts. Users of satellite services in rural, mountain and border areas, the emergency services and operators of critical infrastructure are the ones who would feel any interruption of services between the old and the new regime.
  • The semiconductor industry and research. The Chips Act 2.0 would replace the 2023 framework, with strategic projects, simplified authorisation and mechanisms for responding to supply crises. Companies and research centres in Romania could access European funding for projects in the field.
  • Farmers and livestock breeders. The strategy and the protein plan have no direct legal effect. The effects would come from the legislative proposals that may follow them, for example new animal welfare rules or funding measures for protein crops.
  • Romania’s budget. The package for Montenegro is a basis for negotiation. The Commission puts it at 155 million euros a year from unallocated funds over the 2028-2034 period and states that there would be no impact on the packages pre-allocated to existing Member States.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Until now, the Senate had not given its view on these five documents. The resolutions were adopted on the basis of reports no. LXII/315-319 of 28 October 2026 of the Committee for European Affairs and, for the 2 GHz band proposal, also on the basis of the opinions of ANCOM, of the Committee for Defence, Public Order and National Security and of the Committee for Economy, Industry, Services, Tourism and Entrepreneurship.

For the 2 GHz band, the current situation is the one created by Decision No 626/2008/EC: the Union selected the operators at European level, and the Member States granted them the rights to use the frequencies on their territory. The Commission’s proposal repeals that decision and also moves authorisation to Union level. This is the core of the Senate’s proportionality objection: the transfer should not leave the national authority without the ability to intervene on its own territory.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • It puts in writing, in an official document sent to the Commission, Romania’s concrete interests in the 2 GHz band: ANCOM’s role, spectrum revenue, reimbursement of national costs and continuity of services.
  • It ties the animal welfare requirements to transition periods and to reciprocity in trade, two conditions on which the cost of the new rules for small livestock farmers depends.
  • It explicitly names the crops in which Romania has an advantage, soya, rapeseed and sunflower, and asks for investment in their processing and storage.
  • It asks that Montenegro’s accession should not reduce Romania’s current allocations.

What remains a problem

  • The proportionality objection on the 2 GHz band does not enter the voting mechanism of national parliaments, which counts only reasoned opinions on subsidiarity.
  • The opinions on chips and on Montenegro do not provide for forwarding to the European institutions, even though the one on chips concerns a draft regulation.
  • Many requirements are worded in general terms („sprijin financiar corespunzător”, adequate financial support; „perioade adecvate de tranziție”, appropriate transition periods), without figures that the Government could defend in negotiations.
  • The resolutions come four to five months after the Commission documents and, for the two proposed regulations, after the eight-week deadline counted from the date of the Commission document has expired.

Practical advice

  1. If you use satellite services in the 2 GHz band, for example for fleets, emergency response or areas without terrestrial coverage, follow legislative procedure 2026/0134(COD): the expiry date of the current rights, May 2027, and the length of the extension will decide whether the service continues without interruption.
  2. If you are a livestock farmer, do not treat the European strategy as a rule in force. New animal welfare rules will come, if they come at all, through separate legislative proposals, which can be commented on in the Commission’s public consultations.
  3. If you grow soya, rapeseed or sunflower, follow the funding measures that may arise from the Protein Action Plan, especially for processing and storage capacity.
  4. If you work in semiconductor design or testing or in a research centre, prepare in good time the documentation for the strategic projects provided for by the Chips Act 2.0, once it is adopted.
  5. The full text of the Commission documents can be found on EUR-Lex, under the COM number given in each resolution.

Frequently asked questions

Do the Senate resolutions change anything for me from 5 November 2026?
No. They are opinions of the Senate addressed to the European institutions. They create no obligations and grant no rights to individuals or companies in Romania. Only the European acts under discussion would have effects, if and when they are adopted.
Can the Senate block the regulation for the 2 GHz band?
No, neither on its own nor through this resolution. Protocol No 2 allows national parliaments to send a reasoned opinion when they consider that a draft breaches the principle of subsidiarity, and the draft must be reviewed if the opinions reach at least one third of the votes allocated to national parliaments. The Senate, however, found that subsidiarity is respected; its objection concerns proportionality, which falls outside this mechanism.
What does extending the transition from two to five years mean?
The Commission’s proposal allows the incumbent operators, Viasat and Echostar, to apply for a two-year extension of their current rights, which expire in May 2027. The Senate proposes five years, so that the new systems can be selected, authorised and technically validated before the existing services stop.
Why does the 2 GHz band matter for Romania’s budget?
Under the proposed text, the one-off financial contribution and the annual fees are paid to the European Commission. The Senate notes that, according to ANCOM’s analysis, the general consolidated budget would receive no revenue from the use of this band, even though the radio spectrum is property in the public domain of the state, and asks for a mechanism to reimburse the costs borne by the national authorities.
Does the livestock strategy introduce new rules for farms?
Not directly. A Commission communication is a strategy document. Binding rules would come through later legislative proposals. The Senate asks that, when they come, they should be scientifically grounded, with a transition period and funding.
Does Montenegro’s accession reduce Romania’s EU funding?
The Commission states in its communication that there would be no impact on the financial packages pre-allocated to existing Member States. The Senate asks for exactly this guarantee. The final amount depends on the agreement on the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework and on the date of accession.

Editorial analysis

The timetable shows the limits of these opinions. The Commission adopted the 2 GHz band proposal on 27 May 2026 and the Chips Act 2.0 on 3 June 2026; the Senate voted on 2 November 2026, 159 and 152 days later respectively. Protocol No 2 provides that drafts are to be forwarded to national parliaments at the same time as to the Union legislator, and the reasoned opinion is sent within eight weeks of transmission in the official languages. If transmission took place on adoption, the deadline closed on 22 July and on 29 July 2026; for it still to have been open on 2 November, transmission would have had to take place on 7 September 2026 at the earliest. The communications on livestock, proteins and Montenegro carry no deadline, but 118 and 125 days went by. The reports of the Committee for European Affairs date from 28 October, so the plenary voted within five days; the delay built up in the stage before that.

Resolution no. 140/2026 is the most technically sound, and reading it alongside the text of the proposal brings two things to light. First, the Senate asks for the examination procedure to be „menținută” (maintained) for the implementing acts on selection, authorisation conditions, fees and monitoring. In the proposal, the selection decisions (Articles 7, 8, 11 and 12) and the level of the annual fee are indeed subject to the examination procedure, but the content of the call for applications, with the selection criteria, the authorisation conditions and the payment of the contribution (Article 5), as well as the monitoring mechanisms (Article 19), are subject to the advisory procedure (Article 22(2)), under which the Member States only give their opinion. What the Senate is asking for therefore amounts to a change to the proposal, not to keeping it as it is. Second, Article 20(1) of the proposal extends, on request, the rights of the incumbent operators until May 2029, while the Senate’s request would take them to May 2032.

The proportionality finding carries political weight but has no procedural effect: the mechanism for reviewing a draft counts only reasoned opinions on subsidiarity, and the Senate found that subsidiarity is respected. On Montenegro, the Senate makes its support conditional on Romania’s allocations not being affected, while the Commission’s communication already says that there would be no impact on the packages pre-allocated to existing Member States; the requirement becomes useful only if it is tied to a figure. The Commission’s table shows 1,085 million euros of unallocated funds for 2028-2034, plus 277 million for the common agricultural policy.

What should be changed

  • Opinions on legislative drafts should be adopted within the eight weeks. A reasoned opinion delivered on time counts towards a review; one delivered five months later remains a letter. On the 2 GHz band, ANCOM’s observations were exactly the material for such an opinion.
  • Every resolution should provide for forwarding to the European institutions. The opinion on chips concerns a draft regulation, yet its text provides only for publication; an identical wording in all resolutions would remove any doubt as to whether the opinion reaches the Commission.
  • The request on the examination procedure should name the articles. A reference to Articles 5 and 19 of the proposal, which use the advisory procedure, would give the Government a concrete amendment to defend in the Council.
  • Financial requirements should be quantified. „Sprijin financiar corespunzător” (adequate financial support) for livestock farmers and „protejarea intereselor bugetare” (protection of budgetary interests) on Montenegro become negotiating positions only with an amount or a percentage, for example a minimum level of allocation for livestock farming in the future common agricultural policy.
  • The Government should report to the Senate on how it has used the opinions. A written briefing after the relevant Council meeting would show whether requests such as the five-year transition were defended in the negotiations.

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. 927 of 5 November 2026, pages 2-6 16 pages PDF, 157 KB the act starts on page 2

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