In brief

  • From 7 September 2026, the Permanent Electoral Authority may draw up and hold documents classified „strict secret”, the second highest level of state secrecy. Until now its list stopped at the „secret” level.
  • The new list has 7 items, against the 4 in the 2021 list: four at the „strict secret” level and three at the „secret” level. Three items receive a period of their own, of 30 years, while the other four take over the period set by the institution that sends the document.
  • The Legislative Council gave a negative opinion on 31 August 2026, invoking the fact that the Government is under the restriction in Article 110(4) of the Constitution following the motion of censure of 5 May 2026 and that the opinion of the Supreme Council of National Defence is missing. The Government adopted the decision three days later.
Act: Government Decision no. 705/2026 approving the list of the categories of information classified as state secrets, by level of classification, drawn up or held by the Permanent Electoral Authority, together with the corresponding classification periods
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 755 of 7 September 2026
In force from: 7 September 2026, the date of publication

The institution that organises elections in Romania is given the right to work with documents classified „strict secret”, a level to which it had no access until now. Government Decision no. 705/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 755 of 7 September 2026, replaces the list approved in 2021 and adds a second level of classification above the existing one. The measure fits into a longer series of restrictions on public information in 2026, alongside the move of dignitaries’ asset declarations into a confidential regime.

The list itself sits in the annex to the decision and has two sections. Section A, „strict secret”, contains four items. Section B, „secret”, contains three. In total, seven categories of information that the Permanent Electoral Authority may take out of public circulation.

Four things fall under the „strict secret” level: information received from other authorities in the course of cooperation between institutions; information that the Authority draws up at the request of the empowered institutions, where its disclosure would cause serious damage to national security in the field of defence, public order and national safety; the briefing papers, information bulletins, notifications and reports coming from the institutions with responsibilities in national security; and the plan for guarding and defending the Authority’s premises.

The „secret” section repeats the first three items, with a single difference in content: there the threshold is „damage to national security”, without the word „serious”. The difference is not cosmetic. Law no. 182/2002 on the protection of classified information defines, in Article 15(f), the „strict secret” level by serious damage and the „secret” level by plain damage, so the wording in the annex follows the statutory criterion exactly.

The periods are short as a list and long in effect. Three items receive 30 years: the information drawn up by the Authority at the „strict secret” level, the same information at the „secret” level and the guarding plan. A document produced in 2026 leaves classification in 2056. The other four items have no period of their own, only the mention „in accordance with the period set by the originator”, that is the duration is fixed by the institution that sends the paper, not by the Permanent Electoral Authority and not by this decision.

The act was adopted on 3 September 2026 and bears the signature of Prime Minister Ilie-Gavril Bolojan and the countersignature of the President of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Adrian Țuțuianu. The legal basis is Article 108 of the Constitution and Article 22(2) of Law no. 182/2002, the provision stating that the lists of state secret information of public institutions are approved by government decision.

What it changes in practice

The first effect concerns access. Law no. 544/2001 on free access to information of public interest exempts, in Article 12(1)(a), classified information in the field of national defence, safety and public order. Every new item in the annex closes, in practice, a door on which a journalist or a civic organisation could knock with a request for information. The refusal becomes grounded in law, not in the will of the institution.

The second effect concerns the internal circuit. A „strict secret” document requires different storage areas, different security clearances for staff and different copying rules from a „secret” one, under the national standards approved by Government Decision no. 585/2002. The Authority must have rooms, safes and vetted people at the higher level, otherwise it cannot receive the material that the decision now allows it to hold.

The third effect concerns the flow between institutions. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Special Telecommunications Service, the partners named in the public presentation of the draft, may send the Authority material that they could not lawfully forward to it before. Cooperation ahead of an election becomes simpler for the institutions and more opaque for the public, in the same movement.

The fourth effect concerns duration. Anyone asking today for a document falling under one of the three items with a fixed period will be told that the information is classified until 2056. For the other four items not even that landmark exists in the text, because the period is decided by the originator, and a request for access runs not into a date but into a cross-reference.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Until 7 September 2026, Government Decision no. 924/2021 applied, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 844 of 3 September 2021. That list had a single article, a single level of classification, „secret”, and four items. It lasted five years and four days.

An item-by-item comparison shows that the text was not rewritten but lifted. The four categories from 2021 reappear in the „strict secret” section of the 2026 list with the same wording, the only change being the level indicated in the text, the guarding plan included. On top of them a „secret” section with three items is added, repeating the first three categories. The real change of substance is not the appearance of new information, but the move of the old information one level up.

The plan for guarding and defending the Authority’s premises deserves to be followed separately. In 2021 it was classified „secret”. In 2026 it appears only in the „strict secret” section and no longer has a counterpart in the „secret” section. The category moved up in full, it was not duplicated.

A second change is a correction. Item 2 of the 2021 list classified at „secret” level information described by „serious damage to national security”, that is by the criterion which Law no. 182/2002 reserves for the „strict secret” level. The mismatch stayed in force for five years. In the 2026 list the word „serious” appears only in section A, the level to which it corresponds, while the equivalent item in section B speaks of „damage to national security”. The Legislative Council had flagged this very point in opinion no. 781 of 31 August 2026, and the published text has it corrected.

The third change is one of form and has a practical consequence: the 2026 decision has two articles, not one. Article 2 expressly repeals Government Decision no. 924/2021 as at the date of entry into force of the new decision, with no provision at all about documents already classified under the old list.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • The Permanent Electoral Authority may lawfully receive material that the security institutions could not send it until now, which shortens the path of information ahead of an election.
  • The mismatch in the 2021 list, which used the criterion of the „strict secret” level for information classified „secret”, disappears from the published text.
  • The list stays short. Seven items are easy to read and to compare, and four of them describe documents coming from outside the Authority, not documents it produces itself.
  • The period of 30 years is shorter than the statutory ceiling for the „strict secret” level, which goes up to 50 years under Article 12(2) of the standards approved by Government Decision no. 585/2002.

What remains a problem

  • Item 3 in both sections covers „briefing papers, information bulletins, notifications and reports specific to the field of activity” of the Authority. Its field of activity means elections, the electoral register and party funding, so the trigger for classification is not the subject but the sender.
  • Four items out of seven have no period of their own. The title of the decision promises „the corresponding classification periods”, but for most of the categories the act refers to a decision taken elsewhere.
  • There is no transitional rule for the documents classified „secret” under the 2021 list, above all for the guarding plan, whose category has moved up to „strict secret”.
  • Opinion no. 781 of 31 August 2026 was negative and pointed out the absence of the opinion of the Supreme Council of National Defence, required by Article 4(d) point 1 of Law no. 415/2002. The decision was adopted all the same.

Practical advice

  1. When you request data from the Permanent Electoral Authority under Law no. 544/2001, frame the request around the specific piece of information, not around a document. Election results, reported campaign spending and the number of voters in the register appear in none of the seven items of the annex.
  2. If you receive a refusal, ask in writing for the exact basis: which item of the annex to Government Decision no. 705/2026, what level of classification and what period. A refusal that says only „classified information” leaves you nothing to check.
  3. Remember Article 24(5) of Law no. 182/2002: it is prohibited to classify information as a state secret in order to conceal breaches of the law, administrative errors or to limit access to information of public interest. This is the provision on which a serious challenge rests.
  4. Classification and its duration can be challenged. Article 20 of Law no. 182/2002 gives that right to any Romanian natural or legal person, and the challenge is decided in administrative litigation. The same possibility appears in Article 17(2) of the standards approved by Government Decision no. 585/2002.
  5. For documents coming from other institutions, ask who the originator is. The period is set by that institution, not by the Authority, and the request has to be addressed where the decision was taken.
  6. If you follow the subject over the long run, note the year 2056. That is the year in which classification expires for documents produced in 2026 under the three items with a 30-year period.

Frequently asked questions

Do election results become secret?
No. No item in the annex refers to results, to the records of polling stations or to the centralisation of votes. The seven categories concern information linked to defence, public order and national safety, plus the plan for guarding the Authority’s premises.
What does „strict secret” mean as against „secret”?
They are two of the three levels of state secrecy, defined in Article 15(f) of Law no. 182/2002. „Strict secret”, strictly secret, is assigned to information whose disclosure would cause serious damage to national security, „secret” to information that would cause damage. The third level, the highest, is „strict secret de importanță deosebită”, and the Permanent Electoral Authority does not have it on its list.
For how many years do the documents stay classified?
Three of the seven items have a period of 30 years, so a document from 2026 is declassified in 2056. The other four take over the period set by the institution that issued the document, and that period does not appear in the decision.
Is the 30-year period lawful?
Yes. Article 12(2) of the national standards approved by Government Decision no. 585/2002 sets ceilings of up to 100 years for „strict secret de importanță deosebită”, 50 years for „strict secret” and 30 years for „secret”. The 30 years in the annex fit within both levels used, although at „secret” they reach the maximum ceiling itself.
Can I still ask the AEP for information under Law no. 544/2001?
Yes, the right is untouched for everything that does not fall within the seven items. Article 12(1)(a) of Law no. 544/2001 exempts from free access classified information in the field of national defence, safety and public order, so a refusal can be based only on a specific item of the annex.
Who decides, inside the Authority, that a document is „strict secret”?
The decision does not say. The rule comes from Article 19 of Law no. 182/2002, which empowers for the „strict secret” level the dignitaries listed in point (a) and officials with the rank of secretary of state. The Permanent Electoral Authority is headed by a president with the rank of minister and by two vice-presidents with the rank of secretary of state.
What happens to documents classified before 7 September 2026?
The decision provides nothing. Article 2 repeals the 2021 list without a transitional rule, so the markings already applied remain in force until their period expires or until a declassification carried out, under Article 24(4) of Law no. 182/2002, again by government decision.
Can I challenge the fact that a piece of information has been classified?
Yes. Article 20 of Law no. 182/2002 allows any Romanian natural or legal person to challenge before the issuing authority both the classification and the duration and the level assigned. The challenge is decided under the law on administrative litigation.
Why did the Legislative Council give a negative opinion?
Opinion no. 781 of 31 August 2026 invokes three things: exceeding the limits in Article 110(4) of the Constitution, applicable to the Government after the motion of censure adopted on 5 May 2026; the absence of the opinion of the Supreme Council of National Defence, required by Article 4(d) point 1 of Law no. 415/2002; and the use, in item 2 of section B of the draft, of the criterion specific to the „strict secret” level. The opinion of the Legislative Council is advisory.
Where can I read the full list?
In the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 755 of 7 September 2026, pages 14 and 15. The annex is a table with three columns: the number of the item, the description of the category and the classification period.

Editorial analysis

Read on its own, the list looks technical and harmless. Read beside the 2021 one, it says something else. The items of the old decision were not amended but moved as a block to the higher level, and beneath them a copy of the first three was placed at the previous level. The result is that the only category that moved up for good, without remaining below as well, is the plan for guarding and defending the premises. The rest works as a duplication: the same description now exists at two levels, and the choice between them is made, document by document, by the originator.

A simple calculation shows how little this decision actually settles about duration. Out of seven items, three have a written period, all of 30 years, and four refer to the originator’s period. In other words, the act whose title promises „the corresponding classification periods” sets a period for fewer than half of the items it approves. And the 30 years are not the same thing at the two levels: at „secret” they reach the maximum ceiling allowed by Article 12(2) of the standards approved by Government Decision no. 585/2002, while at „strict secret”, where the ceiling is 50 years, they stay at 60% of it. The consequence is counter-intuitive: the more sensitive information is declassified at the same time as the less sensitive, in 2056 for documents from 2026.

The point that deserves the most attention is not the level but item 3 in both sections. It classifies „briefing papers, information bulletins, notifications and reports specific to the field of activity of the Permanent Electoral Authority” that come from the institutions with responsibilities in national security. The field of activity of this authority is the electoral process itself: the electoral register, the logistics of polling stations, the supervision of party funding. The criterion for classification is therefore not the subject of the document, but its sender. An analysis of the funding of a campaign does not become secret because it is sensitive, but because it arrived by a particular route. And the period, for these items, cannot be read in the decision.

What remains is the way the act was adopted. The negative opinion of the Legislative Council, no. 781 of 31 August 2026, is advisory, so it blocks nothing, but it had also pointed out the absence of the opinion of the Supreme Council of National Defence. One merit must nonetheless be acknowledged: the Council’s technical observation, the one about the criterion of „serious damage” used at the „secret” level, was taken on board. The text published on 7 September 2026 no longer carries the error that stayed in force for five years in the 2021 list.

What should be changed

  • A maximum period of their own for the items that refer to the originator. A formula such as „the period set by the originator, but no more than X years” would give the four items without a period an expiry date that the person requesting the information could nonetheless verify.
  • A transitional rule in Article 2. Repealing the 2021 list leaves unclear the regime of documents already marked „secret”, in particular the guarding plan, whose category has moved up to „strict secret”. A paragraph saying whether these are to be re-marked or keep their level would spare the Authority a discretionary decision.
  • Narrowing item 3 to the subject rather than the sender. Adding a condition of content, for example a link with defence, public order or national safety, as already appears in item 2, would prevent a report on the electoral process being classified merely because it comes from a security institution.
  • Publication of an annual report with the number of documents classified under each item. The figure itself reveals nothing, but it shows whether the list is used for a few documents a year or for hundreds, and today nobody outside the Authority can know that.
  • Requesting the opinion of the Supreme Council of National Defence through a supplementing decision. Its absence, flagged by the Legislative Council, remains an argument available to anyone challenging the act in administrative litigation, and putting it right afterwards costs less than an annulment.
  • A short deadline for reviewing the list, for example at every electoral cycle. The previous list stayed unchanged for five years, with an error of criterion inside it. A periodic review would catch such mismatches before they take effect.

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. 755 of 7 September 2026 16 pages PDF, 125 KB the act starts on page 14

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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.