Romania National Action Plan 2016-2018

3. Promoting Open Parliament principles ...................................................................................................... 17

4. Improved management of the applications submitted for granting citizenship........................................ 19 Civic Participation ............................................................................................................................................... 22 5. Standardization of transparency practices in the decision-making procedures ........................................ 22 6. Centralised publication of legislative projects on the single gateway consultare.gov.ro .......................... 25

7. Citizens Budgets.......................................................................................................................................... 28

8. Improve youth consultation and public participation ................................................................................ 31 Subnational ......................................................................................................................................................... 34

9. Subnational open government ................................................................................................................... 34 Anti-corruption Measures................................................................................................................................... 37 10. Promoting transparency in the decision-making process by setting up a Transparency Register (RUTI) 37

11. Access to performance indicators monitored in the implementation of the National Anti-corruption Strategy (SNA)................................................................................................................................................. 40

12. Improve transparency in the management of seized assets .................................................................... 42

13. Annual mandatory training of civil servants on integrity matters ........................................................... 44 Culture ................................................................................................................................................................ 46

14. Improving access to cultural heritage ...................................................................................................... 46 Education ............................................................................................................................................................ 49

15. Open data and transparency in education ............................................................................................... 49

16. Virtual School Library and Open Educational Resources.......................................................................... 51 Open Contracting ................................................................................................................................................ 55

17. Open Contracting...................................................................................................................................... 55 Open Data ........................................................................................................................................................... 58

18. Increasing the quality and quantity of published open data.................................................................... 58 2 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Introduction Accession to the Open Government Partnership in 2011 provided the Government of Romania with the support to create an auxiliary mechanism that would allow it to become more open, accountable and efficient. OGP membership and the three national action plans drafted from 2012 to 2016 resulted in an increase of efforts to promote transparency and the fight against corruption, to encourage civic participation and the use of new technologies in administration, actions that were also included in national strategies. In 2012, the OGP process in Romania was linked with the 2012-2015 National Anti-corruption Strategy and, in the following years, was correlated to other important objectives such as increasing the transparency of public administration – the 2014-2020 Strategy for strengthening public administration, ensuring the free access to national legislation, increasing transparency and efficiency in public spending or ensuring open access in education and research. These lines of action were reflected in the commitments included in the national plans and were a result of consultation and collaboration between central public administration and civil society. The drafting of the 2016-2018 National Action Plan was based on the lessons learned from the implementation of the previous NAP, the recommendations from the IRM 2015 progress report and Romania’s commitment to promote the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The work of the OGP Coordination Unit1 from the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister, the Department for Online Services and Design, that is in charge since 2013 with coordinating and monitoring the OGP National Action Plan, was strengthened by the support received from non-governmental organisations, especially the NGOs that form the Coalition for Open Data2. Since the beginning of the mandate of the current government (November 2015), the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue (MCPDC)3 became in charge, at national level, with promoting transparency and open government. In this role, the MCDPC initiated a series of actions, complementary to those of the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister, detailed in the next chapters. Besides efforts to maximise OGP related results, the Ministry will monitor the government agencies’ activities in this field and will develop and release regular progress reports. 1 http://ogp.gov.ro/ 2 http://datedeschise.fundatia.ro/ 3 http://www.dialogcivic.gov.ro 3 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Open Government Efforts to Date Open government represents an essential trait of any democratic state and an important component in the modernisation of public administration. Romania’s accession to the Open Government Partnership in 2011 was a part of its commitment to develop and implement the required policies for opening the government further by promoting governmental transparency, encouraging civic participation, using new technologies in administration and fighting corruption. These objectives were reflected in the first set of commitments of the Romanian Government, approved by the Memorandum on the National Action Plan (July 2012-June 2014) and materialized in a series of measures aimed at opening and sharing public data and encouraging dialogue between the public administration and the civil society. A positive signal given by the Government in autumn 2015 was the creation of the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue (MCPDC) – a structure that, along with the Chancellery of the Prime- Minister, will coordinate the implementation of the national commitments included in the OGP National Action Plan. MCPDC’s attributions include: the increase of access to information and transparency in public administration, public consultation of the non-governmental sector and promotion of civil society participation to the decision-making process. In this respect, from November 2015 to April 2016, the ministry has developed the standardization of the way public interest information is published, thus leading to an increase from an average of 46% to over 85% of the degree of compliance of central and local public institutions (ministries, prefectures, county councils and municipalities of major cities) to the standard of public interest information publishing. At the proposal of the Ministry, the Government approved a Memorandum on improving transparency and standardizing public interest information. As a result, over 500 public institutions have been monitored by the ministry’s staff and the process is on-going. In addition, on the subject of increased transparency of central administration, the ministry has implemented three measures aimed at greater transparency of Government meetings:  the publishing, for the first time, of memorandums approved by the Government;  publishing the agenda of government meetings and of the proposals that received institutional approval, at least 24 hours before the meeting; 4 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018  publishing a summary of the results of the government meetings, following every meeting starting 27 April 2016. The results of open government efforts can also be seen in the events that took place in March 2016. In the context of the Open Data Day, the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister, in collaboration with representatives of the civil society, embassies and private sector, organised a series of events 1 dedicated to open government in the week 5-11 March. The 35 panellists and partners in the event were members of the central and local public administration, representatives of international organisations (OGP Support Unit, OGP Independent Reporting Mechanism, OGP Points of Contact from Greece, Bulgaria and Moldova), embassies (UK, USA and the Netherlands), NGOs and private sector. Around 450 people took part in the 10 sessions over the 6 days of the event focusing on increasing transparency and efficiency in the public administration through opening data and information. Discussions were centred on themes such as: open contracting, open data from the health system, open data and smart cities, open journalism, commitments for the new NAP, open parliament, open justice, open education and information accessibility. The OGP Conference held on 9 March was dedicated to identifying priorities in the Government’s OGP process, from the assessment of the 2014-2016 NAP implementation to the proposal of new commitments. The IRM researcher summarized and commented on the conclusions of the progress report that was still under public consultation at the time. The civil society representatives officially presented and published the proposals for new commitments to be included in the 2016-2018 National Action Plan. They included actions in the fields of education, culture, health, justice, economy, energy, natural resources, access to information, fiscal transparency, subnational open governments, open parliament and open data. Another important aspect that has to be mentioned is the application by two Romanian cities (Timișoara and Cluj) to join the Subnational Pilot Program initiated by the Open Government Partnership. Although neither was chosen to participate in this first phase, the intention and the common objectives of stakeholders from those communities (public administration, private sector and civil society, academia) are valued and promoted as good practices at national level. As part of the peer learning and support efforts, in April 2016, Romania shared its acquired experience during a regional meeting organised in Bucharest in collaboration with the US Embassy. The agenda of the meeting was focused on the OGP process and the participants were representatives of the governments, civil society and embassies from Bulgaria, Macedonia and Slovakia. 1 http://ogp.gov.ro/open-gov-week/ 5 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 NAP development process The drafting of the 2016-2018 National Action Plan was based on the proposals received from the public administration institutions and from the civil society, and was made in accordance with the OGP recommended timeline. The calendar was published on the ogp.gov.ro website in January 20161 and was agreed upon with the representatives of civil society during the first public debate held on the subject of the new NAP (28 January 2016). The timeline clearly stated the consultation dates and periods as well as the important milestones for the next 6 months until the publishing of the final version of the 2016-2018 NAP. On 15 February, 2016, the online public consultation for the new NAP was launched on the ogp.gov.ro website. The consultation was open for two months, until 15 April 2016, as it was announced since January. In this first phase of the consultations, the OGP team and partners laid the basis for the new plan: commitment proposals from the public institutions and from stakeholder meetings were added to the proposals already received from the civil society. Public communications mentioned that the drafting of the plan would take into consideration the IRM Progress Report conclusions, as well as the commitment of the OGP member states to promote the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development principles. The start of the public debate in January was accompanied by a presentation of the UN 2030 Agenda: the Sustainable Development Goals2. Anyone was able to send commitment proposals relevant to the principles of the Open Government Partnership: to promote a more open, accountable and efficient government through increased transparency and fight against corruption, encourage public participation and the use of the new technologies in administration. From January till March 2016, a public consultation was organised by the civil society, led by the Centre for Public Innovation. The first phase of the consultation was for raising ideas for the new plan, while the second phase saw most of these ideas being developed into full commitments, along with other partners from the civil society. Almost 200 people were involved in the process, both citizens and representatives of informal groups or non-governmental organisations. The input varied from a simple vote to rank the proposals to drafting the initial form of the commitments (according to the OGP model). The editors of the commitments were: the Centre for Public Innovation, the Centre for Independent Journalism, Funky Citizens, the Romanian Academic Society, Alex Lungu, Smart City and 1 http://ogp.gov.ro/planul-national/calendar-2016/ 2 http://ogp.gov.ro/club-ogp/incepem-al-3-lea-an-de-dezbateri-la-club-ogp/ 6 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Median Research. The final draft included 28 commitments, out of which 21 were fully developed, while 7 remained in concept form. The proposals were grouped under 13 domains. The document was submitted to the Government, presented during the Open Government Week public debate and published online on the website of the Centre for Public Innovation1. The document was also published by the OGP coordination team on the ogp.gov.ro website2 and was further sent by official letter to the line institutions. The OGP team has also organised a number of meetings with the institutions and stakeholders involved to discuss and draft official responses regarding the proposals and the new plan. Following consultations with the public institutions, the proposals drafted by the civil society were accepted entirely or partially by the agencies as commitments to be implemented in partnership with the NGOs. There was no institutional commitment on proposals related to natural resources, state companies and energy. The draft National Action Plan, that includes commitments developed from proposals of both civil society and public institutions, was published on the ogp.gov.ro website on 28 April 2016 and, according to the calendar, the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister organised the following public debates and consultations:  28 April – 31 May: online public consultation;  17 and 19 May: 4 thematic public debates on Culture and Education, Budgetary Transparency and Open Contracting, Access to information and Participation, Open Data / Technology and Innovation;  10 June: public debate on the commitments proposed by the Ministry of Justice. For the final version of the Plan the following public debates and consultations were organised:  17 – 27 June: online public consultation;  23 June: public debate. Starting from the proposal made by civil society regarding the coordination of OGP in Romania, the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister and the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue will initiate a public consultation process for the creation of an institutionalized mechanism for coordination and dialogue. According to the proposals, this should materialize in an OGP Coordination Committee and will work on the principle of continuous cooperation between Government and civil society in all its actions: co-creation of the national action plan, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The Committee will be composed of an equal number of representatives of public 1 http://www.inovarepublica.ro/propuneriogp2016/#more-381 2 http://ogp.gov.ro/planul-national/pna-2016-2018/consultare-publica-pna-2016-2018-etapa-i/ 7 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 institutions and civil society and will be in charge with the monitoring and evaluation of NAP implementation. The documents on which the debates and consultations were based were published on the ogp.gov.ro in a timely manner. Commitments The plan includes continued actions on previous commitments such as open contracting, open data, access to information of public interest, but also includes measures in new domains such as anti- corruption, education, culture, subnational or open parliament. The commitments are structured on the following main topics:  Access to information  Civic Participation  Subnational  Anti-corruption  Culture  Education  Open Contracting  Open Data and reflect the principles of the sustainable development goals of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, Quality Education, Innovation and infrastructure, Climate Action, No Poverty, Good Health and Well-Being, Sustainable Cities and Communities. In drafting the commitments, the IRM recommendations were taken into consideration:

1. Give the next OGP national action plan a higher normative force, approving it by governmental decision. The new Steering Committee will analyse the need and opportunity of this recommendation.

2. Increase accountability and institutional capacity within the OGP process in order to extend the implementation both on a national and on a local level In the first phase, a series of pilot projects will be implemented locally (Subnational). These will be the starting point and will help gather experience for the development of a larger scale program aimed at increasing the number of local OGP contact points, as well as training of public servants and public awareness raising. 8 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

3. Make OGP/SNA (National Anti-corruption Strategy) actions more prominent and extend institutional responsibility by raising the number of responsible persons designated within institutions Within the pilot project described above, the OGP coordination team from the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister will work in collaboration with the SNA team from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration that undertook similar actions through the 2012-2015 SNA campaign with local authorities, as well as with the team from the MCPDC.

4. Improve the role of public consultations Starting 2015, the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue was assigned attributions in this field and has developed a Guide on transparency and efficiency in the public consultation process, including the standardization of the public consultation procedure. The guidebook will be disseminated to all 3200 territorial and administrative divisions (municipalities). To increase the administrative capacity of central institutions for public consultation, the ministry has organised 7 debates on topics of interest for the civil society with ministries such as: the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, the Ministry of Environment or the Ministry of Communications and Information Society. In its 5 months of activity, the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue has made 9 visits to local authorities to promote open government at the subnational level and collaboration with the associative, non- governmental sector. The Government dedicated a section of this Plan to the public consultation process - Improving citizen access to the decision-making process.

5. Increase public awareness on the OGP action plan in Romania This objective is inherently linked to all OGP activities and, from the experience gained so far, it proved to depend on the number and degree of involvement of stakeholders. Unfortunately, efforts undertaken so far did not produce satisfactory results at the local level, where strategies and campaigns must be specifically designed to target regional/local issues. 9 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Access to Information

1. Improving the legal framework and practices regarding access to public interest information Start and End Date: 2016 - 2018 New commitment Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue Lead implementing agency (MCPDC) Name of responsible person from Luca Ciubotaru implementing agency Title, Department Advisor to the Minister Email Luca.ciubotaru@gov.ro Phone +40741975076 Chancellery of the Prime-Minister (CPM) Government Ministries, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Department/Agency Administration (MDRAP) Associative entities from the public administration, such as the Association of Romanian Municipalities, Association of Other Actors Romanian Towns, Association of Romanian Communes, Involved Association of Romanian Prefects CSOs, private sector, Asociația pentru Tranziție Urbană multilaterals, working Asociatia de Cooperare Transfrontalieră Euroregiunea Dunărea de Jos Calup 10 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Asociația pentru Dezvoltarea Priorităților Locale Timiș Alianța Națională a Organizațiilor Studențești din România Asociatia Pro Democratia Asociația Salvați Bucureștiul Although started in 2001, the implementation of Law no.544/2001 on access to public interest information is still marked by a significant number of dysfunctionalities. The analyses made by MCPDC and other government structures before it, as well as those of non-governmental organisations, revealed the need to standardize the format in which all compulsory information is displayed. The research also revealed the necessity to integrate the expectations of civil society on this issue – this involves Status quo or problem addressed by the publishing by default datasets considered public commitment information and mentioned in legislation complementary to the provisions of Law 544/2001. One month after Government approval of the Memorandum titled: Improving transparency and standardization of the way in which public interest information is displayed, initiated by the MCPDC in collaboration with the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister in March 2016, the first assessment of over 350 local and central public institutions showed that ministries implemented over 78% of the Memorandum’s provisions. Increase transparency in the public sector by publishing extensive public interest information; Main objective Improve the institutional capacity to effectively implement the law on access to public interest information. MCPDC will continue to develop the standards included in Brief description of commitment the Memorandum and will monitor their implementation. Concurrently, the Ministry will harmonize practices in the 11 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 field of access to public information, for both the legal framework and its implementation. The standards will be developed following interaction with the public authorities and the nongovernmental sector, drawing from the experience gained in practice. Actions to improve the professionalism of those involved in managing public interest information will also be taken. Improve public sector integrity OPG challenge addressed by the Efficient management of public resources commitment Improving public services The commitment contributes to the uniformization of practices in publishing public interest information and to the development of a proactive communication culture in public authorities. Access to information of public interest, Relevance as an important sequence of the organizational practice that materialises the implementation of the principle of transparency in the public system, is an essential component of the open government process. Creation of a minimal standard, for both citizens and public authorities, regarding the way public information is displayed. Reduce the number of access to information requests for Ambition information that is already available on the websites of public institutions. Improve the process of informing citizens and ensure better information management in public institutions. Milestone - Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date:

1. Monitor the implementation of the Memorandum’s provisions in all Aug 2016 institutions of the executive (over 1800 institutions) 12 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

2. Identify the conflicts existing in the current legal framework related to access to information and harmonize the legislation (changing of norms, Oct 2016 regulations, decisions)

3. Develop standards regarding the quality of information provided to citizens and disseminate them, as well as the changes occurred in the legal Aug 2016 Dec 2016 framework, to central and local public authorities

4. Improve transparency in communication between citizens requesting information and public authorities by developing a platform on the model of Aug 2016 Dec 2016 AskTheEU

5. Training sessions for the staff in charge with implementing Law 544/2001 Jan 2017 Aug 2017 on access to public interest information

6. Create maps of good practices in displaying public interest information Aug 2017 Dec 2017

7. Initiate a national competition for good practices, in order to advance progress in this field, with awards consisting in assistance in the Aug 2017 June 2018 implementation of the new measures. 13 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

2. Centralized publishing of public interest information on the single gateway transparenta.gov.ro Start and End Date: 2016 - 2017 Ongoing commitment Lead implementing agency Chancellery of the Prime-Minister Name of responsible person from Radu Puchiu implementing agency Title, Department State Secretary Email radu.puchiu@gov.ro Phone +40213143400/1018 Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue (MCPDC) Government Ministries, Department/Agency Ministry for Regional Development and Public Other Actors Administration (MDRAP) Involved CSOs, private sector, NGOs with relevant experience and work in this field multilaterals, working Although most of the information subject to compulsory disclosure may be accessed on the websites of public institutions, there are major drawbacks. Most institutions agree that the formats of public information documents are not clearly defined. In addition, there is a lack of clear internal Status quo or problem addressed by the procedures to identify what types of information qualify for commitment default publishing. The different approaches of ministries in publishing these documents results in displaying different information, in incompatible formats, that cannot be easily exported to the single gateway. This commitment was first included in the 2014-2016 NAP, however, due to the lack of a clear legal framework and of 14 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 uniform procedures within public institutions, it was not completed. Facilitate the public’s access to information of public interest Main objective by collecting and publishing it on a single government gateway. To facilitate the access of citizens and assist public institutions, an online platform will be developed for the centralisation of information that is subject to Law no.544/2001 on the free access to public interest information. Following the standardization process and the harmonization of legislation, the pre-requisites for centralized publishing will Brief description of commitment be achieved. The MCPDC will provide methodological assistance based on its activity and experience, while the Chancellery of the Prime-Minister will develop the platform. The commitment will result in the implementation of a tool to manage the flow and to improve communication of public interest information. OPG challenge addressed by the Improving public sector integrity commitment Publishing information of public interest on a single government portal will facilitate citizens’ access to Relevance information. In addition, the project will contribute to the reduction of costs and efforts required to obtain information and will increase accountability in public institutions. Publishing on a single government portal: transparenta.gov.ro all information that is subject to Ambition compulsory disclosure according to Law no. 544/2001 on the access to public interest information. The portal should also contribute to the reduction of reporting costs and simplify 15 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 existing procedures, as uploaded information can be accessed by other institutions as well. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Establish the platform’s functionalities Aug 2016 Development of the portal transparenta.gov.ro Aug 2016 Nov 2016 Pilot testing on a representative sample of central and local public Oct 2016 Dec 2016 institutions and authorities Drafting and publishing a Guide on the use of the portal Jan 2017 Feb 2017 Attract a significant number of central and local authorities to publish on Feb 2017 June 2017 the platform 16 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

3. Promoting Open Parliament principles Start and End Date New commitment 2016 –2018 Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue Lead implementing agency (MCPDC) Name of responsible person from Mihai Lisețchi implementing agency Title, Department State Secretary Email mihai.lisetchi@gov.ro Phone +40799010211 Department for Liaison with the Parliament Government Ministries, Department/Agency Chancellery of the Prime-Minister Other Actors Fundația Median Research Centre Involved National Democratic Institute – Romania CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working Asociatia Institutul pentru Politici Publice (IPP) Asociatia Smart City – ASC Although it is considered the fundamental institution of democracy, in Romania, less than one in five citizens trust the Parliament. This lack of trust stems from the absence Status quo or problem addressed by the of public information on the activity of the Parliament. In commitment the absence of Parliamentary transparency, positive efforts remain unappreciated, and the failure to fulfil the role and attributions of representation cannot be punished. 17 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Increase the transparency of public information and Main objective citizens’ trust in public institutions The government will encourage dialogue between citizens and representatives of the civil society and representatives of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Brief description of commitment in order to adopt policies that ensure the proactive dissemination of information related to the functioning and activity of the institution, including regulations on the format in which the information is made available. OPG challenge addressed by the Increase public sector integrity commitment Access to information; Relevance Accountability; Civic Participation Adoption by the Parliament of the Open Parliament Ambition principles Milestone - Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Organisation of at least 3 public debates on the Open Parliament subject Sept 2016 June 2018 with all interested stakeholders Drafting and proposal of an agreement between Government and Parliament, similar to the ”Better Regulation Agenda”, existing in the European Union between the European Commission and European Nov July 2017 Parliament, a document focusing on transparency in the decision-making process and public consultation. 18 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

4. Improved management of the applications submitted for granting citizenship Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2017 Ministry of Justice (MJ) – National Citizenship Agency Lead implementing agency (ANC) Gelu-Mugurel Dascălu, Sabin Andrei-Mihai Name of responsible person from implementing agency IT and Communication Department Mugurel.dascalu@just.ro Email Andrei.sabin@just.ro Phone +4021.201.93.99 Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) – Police General Inspectorate (IGPR) and Immigration General Government Ministries, Inspectorate (IGI) Department/Agency Other Actors Involved Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MAE) – diplomatic missions CSOs, private sector, Centre for Public Innovation multilaterals, working Citizenship applicants face numerous issues in the citizenship granting process. One of the biggest problems is the limited possibilities to track the evolution of the citizenship application file. Status quo or problem addressed by the commitment This is often caused by the fact that applicants do not know the file registration number, especially those submitting the application at diplomatic missions or consular posts abroad, where the applicant receives a registration number different from the one the file eventually gets at the Agency. On the other hand, there 19 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 are no available resources within the Agency to manage an efficient communication system with the applicants. Main objective Increase transparency and institutional efficiency The commitment regards the development of a computerised system that will give applicants access to information about the status of their application file, as well as the dates set for the oath of loyalty. The information system ROCRIS, dedicated to the Brief description of commitment Romanian criminal records and launched in 2013, will be used by the ANC to check the situation of the applicants. In addition, statistics regarding the number of accepted citizenship applicants will be uploaded on the open data portal data.gov.ro. Improve public services; OPG challenge addressed by the commitment Increase public sector integrity Access to information; Relevance Technology and innovation Develop a computerised system for better management of the files of citizenship applicants. Ambition Publication of open data. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Consultations between the government institutions involved (ANC, IGPR, IGI, MAE) and NGOs to understand and assess the needs of public Sept 2016 servants working on this matter and the needs of citizenship applicants Online programming for the submission of files at each regional office 2016 and at the central office in Bucharest 20 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Use of the ROCRIS information system, dedicated to the criminal records, Oct 2016 to check the status of the applicants Implementation of the application ”Stadiu dosar” (File Status), that will inform the applicants on the status of their file, the phases and the Nov 2016 Feb 2017 periods allowed for solving the submissions. Development, within the technical specifications of the online platform, of a module that will allow the collection, anonymisation and upload of Jan 2017 Dec 2017 data to the open data portal. 21 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Civic Participation

5. Standardization of transparency practices in the decision-making procedures Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2017 Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue Lead implementing agency (MCPDC) Name of responsible person from Mihai Lisețchi implementing agency Title, Department State Secretary Email mihai.lisetchi@gov.ro Phone +40799010211 Ministry of Regional Development and Public Government Ministries, Administration Department/Agency Ministry of Justice Academia de Advocacy Asociația Împreună pentru Dezvoltarea Comunității – AIDC Other Actors CMPP - Centrul pentru Monitorizarea Politicilor Publice Involved Federația Organizațiilor Neguvernamentale pentru CSOs, private sector, Servicii Sociale – FONSS multilaterals, working Fundația pentru Dezvoltarea Sociatății Civile Romanian Youth Movement for Democracy Associations of public servants 22 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Transparency of the decision-making process in public administration is regulated by Law no.52/2006, one of the most modern laws in the field. However, the act is not put to the best use for the potential to implement democratic, participatory, sustainable, efficient and representative decision-making processes. As current practices still reveal lacks in the activity of public authorities to ensure a representative / participatory decision-making process, following an extensive research on the implementation of legal Status quo or problem addressed by the provisions, the Ministry has developed a Guide for the commitment experts in the public system that, through their work, create a link between citizens and government. In this respect, MCPDC has set up an inter-ministerial working group with representatives of central authorities. Its sessions led to the conclusion that an amendment of the law is not needed. However, it is necessary that: - there is a uniform interpretation of the law in public consultation processes; - the practice should be extended to the good practices recommendations. Public integrity; Legislative and normative coherence; Main objective Accountability of public authorities MCPDC will first identify all the deficiencies existing in the implementation of Law no.52/2003, drafting instruments Brief description of commitment to standardize practices in this field and increase the importance of civil society engagement in the decision- making process. Increase public sector integrity OPG challenge addressed by the commitment Efficient management of public resources The commitment is directly related to the civic Relevance participation of citizens to the decision-making process. 23 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Setting standards for the organisation of the public consultation process and for the organisation of public Ambition debates. The creation of an organisational culture of civil society consultations. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Identify deficiencies in public consultation processes at public authorities Dec 2016 level Drafting support documents for the standardization of practices in the Dec 2016 implementation of legislation on the public consultation process Organise training sessions, based on the support documents, with the Jan 2017 Aug 2017 public servants in charge with the public consultation process Provide technical assistance to central institutions in public consultation Aug 2017 June 2018 practices 24 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

6. Centralised publication of legislative projects on the single gateway consultare.gov.ro Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2017 Lead implementing agency Chancellery of the Prime-Minister Name of responsible person from Radu Puchiu implementing agency Title, Department State Secretary Email radu.puchiu@gov.ro Phone +40213143400/1018 Government Ministries, Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue Department/Agency (MCPDC) Other Actors Involved CSOs, private sector, NGOs with relevant experience and work in this field multilaterals, working Assessment of the implementation of Law no.52/2003 on transparency of the decision-making process revealed shortcomings in the working practices, and generally, in the activity of public authorities in ensuring a participative / representative decision-making process. Some of the problems identified in public debates and Status quo or problem addressed by the national and international assessments are the lack of commitment uniformization, insufficient communication to the public on initiated consultations and lack of standardization in obtaining citizen feedback. As such, the development of a single government gateway for citizens to find all legislation on debate, is highly necessary. 25 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Increasing the transparency of the decision-making Main objective process by streamlining access to the legislative projects on debate. By developing the online platform consultare.gov.ro, legislative projects of public institutions will be collected on a single gateway, according to the phases of the process: public consultation, institutional opinion, approval and publication of the official form. Brief description of commitment Such a gateway would allow citizens to send comments directly to the ministry or agency that is in charge with a particular public consultation. The portal will also be used for consultation on other matters of public interest and, depending on the result of this process, new legislative documents may be initiated. Increase public integrity OPG challenge addressed by the More effectively managing public resources commitment Improving Public Services This commitment will contribute to increased public integrity by improving citizen participation in the decision- making process. Publishing on a single gateway facilitates access to information and allows the institutions to hold public consultations in all phases of the drafting and Relevance adoption of public policies. In implementing this commitment, new technologies will be used to improve opportunities of information dissemination, public participation and collaboration. Publishing on a single government portal: consultare.gov.ro all legislative projects that are subject Ambition to Law no. 52/2003 on the transparency of the decision- making process in public administration. 26 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 The portal will allow citizens to send feedback to the ministry or agency that is monitoring the public consultation. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Establish the platform’s functionalities with the methodological assistance of the MCPDC and based on interactions with public Sept 2016 authorities and NGOs Development of the portal consultare.gov.ro - needs analysis and development of technical specifications; April 2017 - development, configuration and implementation phase Launch of the platform and public promotion actions Apr 2017 Apr 2017 Pilot testing on a representative sample of central and local public April 2017 Aug 2017 institutions and authorities Drafting and publishing a User Guide for the portal April 2017 Aug 2017 Development of a mobile app for the consultation process in central Aug 2017 June 2018 administration 27 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

7. Citizens Budgets Commitment Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2018 Lead implementing agency Ministry of Public Finance Name of responsible person from Bogdan Grunevici implementing agency Head of Office, Department for communication, public Title, Department relations, mass-media and transparency Email Bogdan.grunevici@mfinante.gov.ro Phone +40740224649 Chancellery of the Prime-Minister (CPM) Ministry of Regional Development and Public Government Ministries, Administration (MDRAP) Department/Agency Other Actors Ministry for Public Consultations and Civic Dialogue Involved (MCPDC) Funky Citizens CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working Centre for Public Innovation Public budgets are drafted based on the economic and functional structure of public administration and are used as such in the accounting system of public institutions. The budget is presented to the public in this same format. Status quo or problem addressed by the Even when the draft budget is published in a timely commitment manner for public debate, the format of the document is complicated, even for citizens with high education but not trained in this particular field. This issue is a major hindrance for relevant citizen engagement in budgetary allocation decisions. 28 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Initiate the use of Citizens Budgets as a compulsory Main objective mechanism of fiscal budgetary transparency in the adoption of public budgets. The commitment aims to promote Citizens’ Budgets – public budgets presented in a manner that is Brief description of commitment understandable to the public, in both central and local administration, to ensure fiscal and budgetary transparency. Effectively managing public resources; OPG challenge addressed by the commitment Improving public services The commitment is introducing an efficient tool to facilitate citizen engagement in one of the most important Relevance decision-making processes: the adoption of public budgets. The intended result is a major change in the public Ambition budgets adoption mechanism. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Draft a model for the Citizens Budget based on the 2016 national budget Oct 2016 Gather citizens and civil society feedback on the proposed Citizens Budget Oct 2016 June 2017 model and develop a Guide for drafting CBs Pilot CB in at least 15 municipalities (varied types) Oct 2016 April 2017 Drafting and presenting the CB for the 2018 national budget June 2017 Oct 2017 Public awareness actions to promote the CB Oct 2017 Dec 2017 Drafting and adoption of norms introducing CB for all public authorities June 2017 Dec 2017 Develop, start and implement a training / assistance program for public June 2017 June 2018 authorities regarding CB 29 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 30 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

8. Improve youth consultation and public participation Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2017 Lead implementing agency Ministry of Youth and Sport (MTS) Name of responsible person from Marcel Sabadoș implementing agency Head of Office, Department for youth strategies and Title, Department cooperation Email Marcel.sabados@mts.ro Phone +40213076462 Government Ministries, Ministry for Public Consultations and Civic Dialogue Department/Agency (MCPDC) Consiliul Tineretului din România Other Actors Asociația Impact Bistrița Involved CSOs, private sector, Asociația Tinerilor Bucureșteni multilaterals, working Asociația Altium Asociația Viitorul Tinerilor Currently, young people face numerous problems, especially at local level: Status quo or problem addressed by the - lack of local/ regional mechanisms to ensure a structured commitment dialogue between youth and public authorities; - lack of promotion of a structured dialogue at national / regional / local level; 31 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 - lack of specificity in implementation of youth related public policies. Achieve an open decision-making process in developing Main objective youth public policies at national level The commitment aims to implement a series of actions that will strengthen collaboration between public authorities, young people and organisations working with youth, to produce specifically targeted action plans, through dialogue and use of new technologies. Brief description of commitment The implemented actions and tools will lead to development of skills in both young people and public servants working in this field, contributing to an open, diverse, intercultural and connected society. Effectively managing public resources; OPG challenge addressed by the commitment Improving public services Relevance Civic participation Initiate structured dialogue for drafting and monitoring the implementation of youth related public policies, at local and county level; Setting up and operation of consultative councils for youth issues: 41 operating by the county councils, 41 Ambition operating by municipality councils, 1 operating by the General Council of the Bucharest municipality; Selection of at least 1000 benficiaries of MTS youth projects, on objective criteria and transparent methodologies, using online apps. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Hold public consultations initiated by the National Working Group and Nov 2016 youth workers 32 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Setting up 83 local consultative councils for young people Jan 2017 Dec 2017 Selection of at least 1000 benficiaries of MTS youth projects, on objective criteria and transparent methodologies, using online apps. Oct 2016 33 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Subnational

9. Subnational open government Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2018 Ministry of Regional Development and Public Lead implementing agency Administration (MDRAP) Name of responsible person from Andreea Grigore implementing agency Head of Office, Ethics, Integrity and Good Governance Title, Department Department Email andreea.grigore@mdrap.ro Phone +40372111461 Chancellery of the Prime-Minister (CPM) Government Ministries, Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue Department/Agency (MCPDC) Other Actors Involved County Councils Open Data Coalition CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working Smart City and other NGOs with relevant experience At the level of local public authorities, knowledge of the open government principles is low. There are several Status quo or problem addressed by the initiatives and good practices, but these are not commitment replicated, due to the lack of information and communications on this topic. 34 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Increase citizen engagement in the decision-making Main objective process of local authorities and increase the involvement of local authorities in the OGP process. A set of recommendations regarding open local government will be drafted based on the OGP principles, Brief description of commitment and a pilot program modelled on the OGP Subnational Pilot will be initiated for 8 local governments. Improving public services; OPG challenge addressed by the Increasing Public Integrity; commitment More Effectively Managing Public Resources Civic Participation; Relevance Accountability; Access to public information Increase the number of local authorities that are committed to implement measures related to OGP principles; Ambition Increase the number of social actors that participate in the decision-making process. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Co-creation of set of recommendations on OGP principles for local public Sept 2016 Oct 2016 administration Dissemination of information regarding these recommendations to local Nov 2016 June 2018 authorities Organise regional information sessions with public authorities, NGOs, academia and other stakeholders to promote the OGP subnational March 2017 June 2017 principles (8 sessions) 35 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Based on the model of the OGP Subnational Program process, launch an application session followed by the selection of 8 local public authorities Aug 2017 Sept 2017 that will be assisted in the development and implementation of local action plans Implementation of local action plans developed by the local governments, with the support of NGOs and the OGP Coordination Unit: - hold local public debates and consultations; - identify local specific problems and priorities with the participation of Oct 2017 Apr 2018 all stakeholders; - set up local mixed action teams to draft and propose projects / solutions and implement them. Select and award the best practices in OGP Subnational May 2018 May 2018 Based on gained experience, develop an OGP action plan for local May 2018 June 2018 authorities for 2018-2020 Analysis of the opportunity and necessity, as well as identification of funding sources, for: - the development of a set of standardized, open-source tools to facilitate the online presence of local public authorities (website based on the provisions of the Memorandum on transparency; user interface allowing the update of the page even without having technical expertise; widgets Nov 2016 April 2017 that automatically retrieve particular information from centralised databases; instruments for participatory democracy. - the development of a cloud service, managed by the MDRAP, including maintenance, that will host free of charge the local public authorities’ websites that use the standardised solution 36 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Anti-corruption Measures

10. Promoting transparency in the decision-making process by setting up a Transparency Register (RUTI) Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2017 Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue Lead implementing agency (MCPDC) Name of responsible person from Luca Ciubotaru implementing agency Title, Department Advisor to the Minister Email Luca.ciubotaru@gov.ro Phone 0741975076 Ministry of Justice Government Ministries, Department/Agency Other Actors Chancellery of the Prime-Minister Involved CSOs, private sector, Private sector partners and NGOs that will join the process multilaterals, working following public consultations Presently, there is not sufficient transparency in the interactions between public institutions and interested parties from the private sector that promote their interests in relation to various legislative initiatives. Status quo or problem addressed by the Equally, the central public administration has limited commitment resources to proactively identify interested parties from the private sector with which to maintain transparent communications and consultations in the various phases of initiating and developing public policies initiatives. Ensure transparency and integrity in the decision-making Main objective process 37 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Improve the transparency of the public decision-making process by disclosing interactions between high public officials and interested parties from the private sector that promote their interests in relation to various legislative initiatives. RUTI is a register of interest representatives from the private sector that willingly provide data about the entity they represent. The RUTI also includes information about the registrants’ interactions with decision-makers from the public sector. Brief description of commitment In this respect, dignitaries, high-level public servants and general directors of state companies will also publish on this platform information about their meetings with groups from the private sector, the subject of the meeting and brief conclusions. This aspect is a continuation of MCPDC’s efforts to publish the agendas of high-level officials from the central government, a requirement that was included in the Memorandum for on improving transparency and standardizing public interest information. The register will managed by the MCPDC, in partnership with the MJ and CPM. OPG challenge addressed by the Increasing public integrity commitment Access to information and accountability by improving Relevance transparency in the decision-making process Ambition Ensuring transparency in the decision-making process Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Develop the concept of the Transparency Register (RUTI) Aug 2016 Development of the ruti.gov.ro platform Aug 2016 38 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Public consultation with the civil society and private sector on the Aug 2016 proposed mechanism Launch and testing of the platform Sept 2016 Jan 2017 Assessment of the results Jan 2017 Feb 2017 39 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

11. Access to performance indicators monitored in the implementation of the National Anti- corruption Strategy (SNA) Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2018 Lead implementing agency Ministry of Justice (MJ) Name of responsible person from Andrei Furdui implementing agency Title, Department Deputy Head of Office, Crime Prevention Department Email sna@just.ro Phone +40372041060 Government Ministries, Department/Agency Other Actors Involved CSOs, private sector, Open Data Coalition multilaterals, working From 2012 to 2015 the Technical Secretariat of the National Anti-corruption Strategy monitored the implementation of anti-corruption preventive measures and the evaluation indicators. Until 2020, approximately 4000 central and local public institutions will have to make a mandatory self- Status quo or problem addressed by the assessment of the anti-corruption preventive measures commitment and answer 122 indicators, resulting in 488.000 open data sets. In this respect, the SNA platform will be developed to facilitate centralization of data, uploaded by public institutions, in an open format. The institutions will include subordinate agencies, state-owned companies, municipalities, county councils, hospitals etc. and the resulted data will be made available to the public. Main objective Institutional transparency 40 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Ensuring access to information regarding the Brief description of commitment implementation of anti-corruption preventive measures and the SNA indicators. OPG challenge addressed by the Increasing public integrity commitment Relevance Access to information Development of the SNA platform that will centralise open data provided by public authorities and institutions, from the central and local level, regarding the monitoring indicators for the implementation of anti-corruption Ambition preventive measures. Uploading the collected data on the open data portal data.gov.ro. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Develop the new SNA platform to ensure the centralised collection of Jan 2017 Dec 2017 open data Develop a guide for the upload of data Sept 2016 Dec 2016 Publish data in an open format on sna.just.ro and data.gov.ro Jan 2017 Dec 2017 Develop IT applications to facilitate the implementation of the SNA Sept 2017 Dec 2017 Revision of the monitoring indicators (once every 2 years), in June 2018 Dec 2018 collaboration with civil society 41 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

12. Improve transparency in the management of seized assets Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2017 Ministry of Justice (MJ) through the National Agency for Lead implementing agency the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI) Name of responsible person from Cornel-Virgiliu Călinescu implementing agency Title, Department National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets Email Cornel.calinescu@just.ro Phone +40372041060 Government Ministries, National Agency for Fiscal Administration Department/Agency Other Actors Involved CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working According to art. 40 of Law no.318/2015 for the setting up and operation of the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets, (1) ANABI publishes in an open format and on a quarterly basis data and public interest information generated from the national integrated information system for recording proceeds of Status quo or problem addressed by the crime. (2) Until the information system is operating, the commitment Agency publishes, on a quarterly basis, data and public interest information regarding its activities. In addition, to ensure transparency in the process of reuse of immovable property, according to art.31, (3) ”the Agency publishes on its website updated information about each immovable property seized from criminal proceedings, including its legal situation, position, 42 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 photographs, the date when it became private state property, as well as other relevant data” . Main objective Institutional transparency ANABI will develop a platform that will ensure access to Brief description of commitment information regarding the management of proceeds of crime Increasing public integrity OPG challenge addressed by the commitment More Effectively Managing Public Resources Relevance Access to information Ensuring access to information by publishing open data regarding seized immovable assets and their social reuse Ambition and public interest information about the Agency’s work. Uploading the data on the open data portal data.gov.ro. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Develop the ANABI website, including publishing open data and public Sept 2016 interest information. Develop the national integrated system for the registration of proceeds June 2017 of crime. 43 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

13. Annual mandatory training of civil servants on integrity matters Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2018 Lead implementing agency Ministry of Justice (MJ) Name of responsible person from Andrei Furdui implementing agency Title, Department Deputy Head of Office, Crime Prevention Department Email sna@just.ro Phone +40372041060 Ministry for Regional Development and Public Administration (MDRAP) – The National Agency of Civil Servants Government Ministries, National Institute of Magistracy Department/Agency Other Actors Involved Al. I. Cuza Police Academy University of Bucharest – Faculty of Philosophy CSOs, private sector, Professional training agencies multilaterals, working Implementation of the National Anti-corruption Strategy (SNA) 2012-2015 revealed that the level of anti- corruption knowledge among public servants is low. Status quo or problem addressed by the Therefore, one of the objective of the 2016-2020 SNA is commitment to hold online training modules for management and executive staff from central and local public institutions and authorities, as well as from their subordinate or coordinate agencies. 44 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Improve the level of anti-corruption knowledge among Main objective public servants The Ministry of Justice will provide the e-learning platform and will develop the supporting materials for the online training courses on integrity. These interactive modules Brief description of commitment will improve the knowledge the users already have and will provide new information on the topics of ethics and integrity. Participants will take a test upon finishing the courses. OPG challenge addressed by the Increasing public integrity commitment Relevance Accountability Ensuring access to personnel from central and local public institutions and authorities to online training. Provide Ambition anti-corruption education courses for a significant number of staff from central and local public institutions and authorities. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Develop partnerships with institutions competent in professional training Sept 2016 Nov 2016 Develop the training program Dec 2016 Jan 2017 Develop guidance for the public servants that will take the mandatory Feb 2017 Mar 2017 courses Develop the courses Feb 2017 Apr 2017 Ensure participation of at least 50% of central and local public institutions May 2017 June 2018 and authorities’ staff to online training provided through this platform. 45 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Culture

14. Improving access to cultural heritage Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2018 Lead implementing agency Ministry of Culture Name of responsible person from Cristina Cotenescu implementing agency Title, Department Public Manager Email cristina.cotenescu@cultura.ro Phone +4021.224.46.62 Public cultural institutions under the subordination of the Ministry of Culture Government Ministries, Department/Agency Devolved departments of the Ministry of Culture Other Actors Involved National Archives Open Data Coalition CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working Inițiativa România Romania has submitted only 7,66% of the digital material that should be published on Europeana.eu, the Digital European Library, as pledged in the National Strategy for Status quo or problem addressed by the the Digital Agenda for Romania (2014). According to commitment Romania’s targets, 750.000 items should have been submitted by 2015. Given the fact that some of the public cultural institutions have already digitised a large part of their specific cultural 46 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 resources, but did not report or communicate this fact, there is a clear need to analyse the publishing conditions for this digitised material, under the provisions of the PSI directive (implemented in national legislation through Law no. 299/2015 on the re-use of public information). Improve accessibility and re-use of cultural heritage Main objective through digitisation. The massive digitisation of cultural resources (particularly the movable heritage) that will be done within the eCultura project will focus on: - development of a single online platform that will host a catalogue and a digital library and will be available to all cultural institutions in Romania and open to the public; Brief description of commitment - digitisation and publishing online (until 2020) in the Digital Library of Romania and the European Digital Library (europeana.eu) of over 750.000 digital objects. Drafting the analysis regarding the publication of public resources in an open format and under an open license, followed by the actual publication, will result in boost of the access to knowledge, creativity and innovation. Improving public services; OPG challenge addressed by the commitment More Effectively Managing Public Resources Access to information; Relevance Civic participation; Technology and Innovation; Improving the visibility of the national cultural heritage; Ambition Implementing a national shared catalogue of the collections owned by public cultural institutions, ensuring 47 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 a uniform update of the indexing system and eliminating double recordings; Identifying the collections that can be published as open works. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Development of a single online platform that will host a catalogue and a digital library and will be available to all cultural institutions in Romania Sept 2016 June 2018 and open to the public Digitisation and publishing online (until 2020) in the Digital Library of Romania and the European Digital Library (europeana.eu) of over Sept 2016 2020 750.000 digital objects. Analysis and drafting of an action plan for the development of a collaborative tool regarding the publication of cultural digitised resources Sept 2016 Dec 2017 of public cultural institutions as open works 48 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Education

15. Open data and transparency in education Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2017 Lead implementing agency Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research Name of responsible person from Daniel Bojte implementing agency Title, Department Advisor, IT in Education Unit Email daniel.bojte@edu.gov.ro Phone +40745948285 Subordinate agencies of the ministry (ARACIS, ARACIP, Government Ministries, UEFISCDI, UTIE) Department/Agency Other Actors Schools inspectorates Involved CSOs, private sector, Open Educational Resources Coalition Romania multilaterals, working Educational policies and the perception of citizens about the public education system are encumbered by the lack Status quo or problem addressed by the of concrete, certified information about the system. commitment Without relevant indicators, the debate on the educational system cannot have real substance and the sectorial policies can hardly be assessed. 49 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 In the past years, new computer systems that allow the generation of data have been introduced or improved in the public education system. Main objective Improving transparency in the public education system The objective of the commitment is the publishing in an Brief description of commitment open format of the education data and indicators owned by the MENCS and subordinate institutions Efficient management of public resources; OPG challenge addressed by the commitment Improving public services The commitment improves the access of the public to information from the education sector, increases public Relevance accountability of the decision-making authorities and makes use of new technologies. The commitment brings transparency to internal processes that are already started, but also contributes Ambition significantly to the internal coherence of policy adoption and implementation. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Identification of all computer systems and databases of the MENCS and subordinate institutions that are either already in use, being Oct 2016 implemented or being prepared. Determine, following public consultation, which are the essential datasets from the education system that are to be published on the Oct 2016 Dec 2016 national open data portal. Establishing the internal procedures and publishing the datasets. Jan 2017 June 2017 Regulation of an internal policy of the MENCS to establish that any new computer system to be introduced will have a compulsory component Jan 2017 June 2017 that will allow export of data to the open data portal 50 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018

16. Virtual School Library and Open Educational Resources Start and End Date New commitment 2016 - 2017 Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research Lead implementing agency (MENCS) Name of responsible person from Daniel Bojte implementing agency Title, Department Advisor, IT in Education Unit Email daniel.bojte@edu.gov.ro Phone +40745948285 National Centre for Assessment and Examination Government Ministries, Department/Agency Other Actors Education Sciences Institute Involved CSOs, private sector, Open Educational Resources Coalition Romania multilaterals, working Open educational resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, and assessing as well as for research purposes. These materials can be found in any medium, digital or otherwise, and reside in the public domain or Status quo or problem addressed by the have been released under an open license that permits commitment no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions. Using OER can, at low costs, bring significant advantages to the public education system, especially in the secondary education sector: improvement of access to quality education, increasing citizens’ interest in 51 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 education, improving the quality of education through peer assessment and innovation. Through the Law on national education no. 1/2011, Romania has created the legal framework for the use of OER: the Virtual School Library. However, the provisions of the law have not yet been implemented. Creation of the Virtual School Library and its population Main objective with open educational resources By creating the Virtual School Library and defining a national policy regarding open educational resources, the commitment aims to increase access to quality education and foster innovation. The sources for these materials will be: - documents produced by the MENCS and subordinate agencies, particularly curricula and textbooks that the ministry buys directly; - resources produced in EU funded programs, regardless of the beneficiary. The financing contracts will included Brief description of commitment clauses stating that the produces resources will be published under an open license and will be uploaded on the national portal; - new resources created by teaches and used for teaching activities, including school inspections. It is well known that teachers are permanently creating a host of teaching materials, and these materials can also be uploaded to the portal; - resources that are already developed by teachers and are distributed to other communities. The users of these communities will be encouraged to to transfer the most valuable resources to the national portal; 52 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 - educational resources that resulted from the implementation of EU funded projects will be part of this library; - starting a public consultation process regarding the acquisition of textbooks, so that the content of the textbooks is also bought and becomes the property of MENCS; The implementation terms will be discussed and agreed within the MENCS. More effectively managing public resources; OPG challenge addressed by the commitment Improving public services The commitment improves the quality of education through open access to educational resources that are Relevance created with public funds, increases public accountability of the decision-making authorities and makes use of new technologies. Improve student performance by facilitating access to Ambition educational resources for teachers. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Create the technical support for the Virtual School Library Sept 2016 Collect, from public and private sources, and publish the initial repository Dec 2016 for the Library Select an open licence for the Library Dec 2016 Introduction in all operational programs funded from the EU of a contractual clause stating that any educational resource that is created Sept 2016 will be published under an open license and uploaded to the Library 53 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Regulation of the way in which educational resources will be entered in the Library, a mandatory clause for projects developed with public funds Dec 2016 and on demand for private projects Review, following public debates, of the procedures for buying school Dec 2016 textbooks, so that they are available to the public under an open licence Draft and adopt a national strategy for the development of the Virtual Jan 2017 Sept 2017 School Library and the use of OER in the public education system 54 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Open Contracting

17. Open Contracting Commitment Start and End Date Ongoing commitment 2016 - 2018 National Agency for Public Procurement (ANAP) Lead implementing agency Digital Agenda Agency (AADR) Name of responsible person from Oana Marc, Legal Advisor, implementing agency National Agency for Public Procurement, phone: Title, Department +40213118090, oana.marc@anap.gov.ro Email Delia Popescu, President, Digital Agenda Agency, phone: +40 21 305 28 08, Phone delia.popescu@aadr.ro Government Ministries, Chancellery of the Prime-Minister Department/Agency Other Actors Involved Funky Citizens; CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working Open Society Foundation As public procurement represents one of the most important topics related to government transparency, the Status quo or problem addressed by the Government of Romania is in the process of implementing commitment the Open Contracting Data Standard, as a tool to increase the transparency of public acquisitions and for the correct transposition of European directives. 55 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Increase the transparency and efficiency of public Main objective spending The commitment is a continuation of one of the priorities of the 2014-2016 NAP and its objective is to increase the transparency and efficiency of public spending by opening data collected through the electronic procurement system in the OCD standard, as well as by engaging citizens in the process. Brief description of commitment Data will cover planning, award, implementation, performance, and completion of public contracts. OCDS data will be directly accessible in the eLicitatie platform, even for users unskilled in automatic data collection / processing, by applying search filters on criteria such as contracting authority, economic operator, procurement name etc. Increasing public integrity OPG challenge addressed by the commitment More Effectively Managing Public Resources Access to information; Public Accountability; Civic Participation; Technology and Innovation Implementation of Open Contracting principles in a pilot conducted in one or more public institutions; Ambition Implementation of the Open Contracting Data Standard in the national public procurement system. Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Informing and training the public procurement staff in local and central Dec 2016 public institutions Implementation of the OCDS in the e-licitatie.ro portal (public Ongoing procurement portal). Following the JSON standard, a webservice will serve API calls according to the OCDS, covering: Buyer Information, 56 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Tender/Initiation, Award, Contract, Implementation, Planning, Document, Budget, Item, Amendment, Classification, Contact Point, Value, Period. Publishing the datasets resulted from the OCDS implementation, on the September Ongoing data.gov.ro portal 2016 Selection of one or more public institutions for the implementation of a pilot on applying the OC principles (for all phases of the contracting Aug 2016 Sept 2016 process) Piloting the implementation of OC principles in one public institution, in collaboration with civil society, in all phases: development/planning, Oct 2016 June 2018 awarding, execution, implementation/monitoring, completion, assessment 57 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Open Data

18. Increasing the quality and quantity of published open data Commitment Start and End Date Ongoing commitment 2016 - 2018 Lead implementing agency Chancellery of the Prime-Minister Name of responsible person from Angela Benga, Larisa Panait implementing agency Title, Department Advisors, Department for Online Services and Design Email ogp@gov.ro Phone +40213143400/1152 Ministries; Government Ministries, Department/Agency Other Actors Local public authorities Involved CSOs, private sector, Coalition for Open Data multilaterals, working Publishing open data from the public authorities and institutions represents one of the modern means to increase transparency and efficiency in public administration. Law 109/2007 on the re-use of public Status quo or problem addressed by the information, that was the first regulation of the open data commitment framework in Romania, is not widely known nor implemented, and Romania’s open data publishing and re- use commitments are deemed unsatisfactory by both civil society and international researchers. 58 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 The main objective of this commitment is to promote and increase transparency in public administration and Main objective improve citizen dialogue by improving the means and procedures to publish open data from the public institutions and authorities. The commitment is part of the project ”Improving the quality and number of datasets published by public institutions” that will be funded through the European Social Fund 2020 and aims to: A) improve the open data publishing methodology; B) provide a series of training sessions and support Brief description of commitment documents for open data management for the staff in public central and local institutions; C) improve the quality of data published on data.gov.ro; D) Encourage the re-use of data; E) increase the number of datasets published on data.gov.ro OPG challenge addressed by the Increasing public integrity; commitment More effectively managing public resources Access to information; Public Accountability; Civic Relevance participation; Technology and Innovation

1. Development of an open data methodology and a public policy that would represent landmarks for the public institutions publishing open data;

2. Training for 200 persons from the local and central Ambition public administration

3. Improve the quality and number of open datasets;

4. Advance the re-use of available datasets in the benefit of both public institutions and citizens. 59 ROMANIA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2016-2018 Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable and completion date Start Date: End Date: Improve the open data publishing methodology by updating and improving the 2015 Guide and assessing the framework for a public policy proposal that would ensure implementation of procedures in all public Jan 2017 March 2017 institutions, publication of datasets on a regular basis and correlation with the linked governmental strategies. Organise 13 training session for staff in local and central public May 2017 July 2017 administration (200 persons) Pilot the automatic publishing on the data.gov.ro portal of open data from public procurement (open contracting), tax registers and air quality Sept 2016 Apr 2017 (through APIs) Encourage and assist public institutions in organising competitions (hackathons) using open data, to develop solutions for specific issues. At least 4 hackathons will be organised, in sectors where institutions already Sept 2016 June 2018 showed interest in promoting the re-use of data, and civil society representatives agreed on the utility of such competitions (culture, education, local government, anti-corruption, citizens budgets etc.) Centralised publishing on the national open data portal of priority, high value datasets (budget, education, culture, health, labour, environment and others). Monitoring of regular updates of datasets that are already Ongoing Ongoing published. Identify and publish new datasets, in collaboration with civil society. 60