Strengthening the Framework on Pre- and Post-Public Employment in Romania

Romania has restrictions on post-public employment, but the existing provisions do not cover several categories of officials and types of activities that may pose high risks of an integrity breach in post-public employment. In addition, there are no specific sanctions in place for violations of post-public employment provisions that are tailored to the severity of the offence. Romania does not regulate pre-public employment, which is another high-risk area. This section, therefore, recommends the following:

• introducing legal provisions that cover the following officials: persons with top executive functions (PTEFs), management of regulatory authorities, management of state-owned enterprises, local government officials in high-risk positions, high-level officials in the Bank of Romania, high-level officials from high-risk sectors like education and health, officials representing the state or a public authority in legal proceedings and officials issuing licenses or permits

• expanding the scope of at-risk activities and behaviours covered by the regulatory framework to address, for example, interactions with a former private employer while in public service, use of insider information, granting favourable treatment in exchange for an offer of employment, switching sides in regulatory proceedings, lobbying a former public employer and certain post-judicial activities

• establishing specific proportionate sanctions for violations of pre- and post-public employment provisions for all categories of public officials, as well as for private sector entities that employ former public officials in violation of these provisions

• specifying compensation measures for former public officials whose employment prospects are excessively limited as a result of post-public employment provisions.

The second section of this report focuses on ensuring there is a mechanism for monitoring whether pre- and post-public employment provisions are adhered to. Given its current role in monitoring compliance with provisions on conflict-of-interest management, the National Integrity Agency (ANI) would be well‑placed to fulfil this function, and a proportionate increase in resources could be allocated to ensure the ANI can exercise its new competence effectively.

This section, therefore, recommends the following:

• requiring public officials to inform the ANI of their post-public employment activities before leaving public service and for a proportionate period after leaving

• granting the ANI the competence to verify declarations of post-public employment activities in a similar manner to the verification of interest and asset declarations that it already conducts

• expanding the scope and increasing the quality of data which the ANI can access, as well as increasing information sharing between relevant institutions, to improve the effectiveness of verification

• granting the ANI the competence to forward suspicions of violations of pre- and post-public employment provisions to authorities responsible for sanctioning.

The final section of this report focuses on supporting public officials in understanding and upholding the pre- and post-public employment provisions. To ensure that any newly adopted provisions are clearly understood and acted upon, this section recommends the following:

• revising existing codes of conduct for public officials to address the new provisions

• conducting awareness-raising campaigns about the new provisions

• granting the ANI the competence to issue voluntary advice on pre- and post-public employment to PTEFs

• strengthening the role of the ethics adviser to enable these officials to issue voluntary advice on pre- and post-public employment to other categories of officials

• issuing guidance for the private sector on compliance with pre- and post-public employment provisions.