Activities of public institutions during the campaign

(amended by Law No. 101/2020, dated 23 July 2020)

1. Central and local public institutions, as well as state agencies and/or enterprises shall be obliged to report to the CEC all activities of a public nature that they plan to conduct in period coinciding with four months prior to the election date until Election Day. Public activities shall be all those that are open to public or media participation, as well as those with public information in their agenda, in the period from four months from the election date until Election Day.

2. Reporting shall be the personal responsibility of the person responsible for the administrative management of public institutions, agencies, and state-owned enterprises (the institution’s secretary-general or, according to the circumstances, the general director or executive director). Reporting must be conducted no later than five days before timeframe planned for the organisation of the activity.

3. Reporting under point 1 of this Article shall be carried out through the public activity reporting interface, which shall be maintained and managed by the CEC. The responsible persons shall receive personalised access to this interface and shall enter data on the date and time of the event, its type, topic, highest level of participation, guests of honour, scheduled speakers, and media coverage. The information under this point shall be accessible to all interface users from the moment data are entered until the final election result is announced.

4. In case the CEC, by its own initiative or upon third-party request, observes from the information in accordance with point 3 of this Article that the activity may constitute an abuse of state resources, it shall order its prohibition. Prohibition shall be carried out by placing the note “Prohibited by the CEC” in the reporting interface, in the section pertaining to the activity. The note “Prohibited by the CEC” shall be placed no later than two days prior to the timeframe planned for the organisation of the activity. The information under this point shall be accessible to the public, from the moment data are entered until the final election results are announced.

5. Activities prohibited by the CEC shall not be allowed to be aired or featured in news programmes or radio and TV programmes dedicated to campaign coverage. Their broadcasting or coverage in breach of this point shall result liability of the radio-television broadcaster, in accordance with this law.

6. Failure to report scheduled activities of a public nature by public institutions, state agencies and/or enterprises, or their conduct despite the CEC prohibition, shall be cause for liability of the responsible person and of the head of the relevant institution, in the event they obstructed the enforcement of this provision.

7. Rules on the examination, by own initiative or upon request, of the cases that may constitute misuse of state resources, in accordance with points 1 and 4 of this Article, shall be approved by CEC normative act.