AI Strategies in Romania

  1. Are there any governmental initiatives in your jurisdiction aimed at introducing legal regulatory framework for AI? If so, please list them.
  2. If there are no governmental initiatives in your jurisdiction aimed at introducing the legal regulatory framework for AI: are there any non-governmental initiatives in this field? If so, please list the leading ones, including details of non-governmental organisations in charge.
  3. What is the status of works on legal regulatory framework in your jurisdiction? Please briefly describe it.
  4. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the definition of AI.
  5. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the legal personality of AI.
  6. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding liability for damage caused by AI.
  7. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the safety of AI’s products.
  8. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the protection of privacy and personal data processed for AI needs.
  9. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the non-personal data management for AI needs.
  10. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the protection of the intellectual property works created by AI.
  11. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding a general approach towards the regulatory intervention associated with the development of AI.
  12. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding a human oversight of AI applications.
  13. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on the competition on the market.
  14. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on consumers.
  15. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on employees and candidates for work.
  16. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the use of AI in the financial sector.
  17. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the use of AI in the public sector.

Yes. The Romanian Government (mainly the Ministry of Communications and Information Society and the Ministry of European Funds) is investigating possible options to introduce a legal regulatory framework for AI.

However, Romania has not as of today adopted specific laws regarding AI.

N/A

  • According to a memorandum approved by the Romanian Government in May 2020, Romania plans to use the available resources of AI research institutes to finance future European projects and infrastructure. Examples of such projects in the AI field include the National Platform for Advanced Technologies which carries out R&D and supplies technical/technological consultancy, as well as the Romanian Hub for Artificial Intelligence, which aims to develop an AI ecosystem in Romania. 
  • According to a decision of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies in September 2020, Romania adhered to the provisions set out in the EU Commission’s White Paper on AI. In this decision, there are 13 recommendations issued regarding AI, including: (i) to undertake proper consultations with business stakeholders in order to establish a framework for the responsible use of AI; and (ii) to support the agricultural sector in adopting AI-based solutions.

4. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the definition of AI.

Romania has not adopted specific laws regarding AI yet, hence there is no legal definition of AI at the moment.

The EU High-Level Expert Group on AI does however provide a definition of AI in the paper “A definition of AI: main capabilities and scientific disciplines”. This is a non-binding instrument but may constitute a reference point for the Romanian legislator.

Romanian legislation does not grant legal personality for AI at the moment. 

In relation to the IP rights for example, Romanian Law No. 8/1996 (the “Copyright law”) offers legal protection exclusively to works that are original, implying the intervention of a human author. 

In other words, the Copyright law is currently taking a conservative approach, by excluding interpretations that would grant AI any form of legal personality or protection over the IP works. 

6. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding liability for damage caused by AI.

As there is no specific legislation in this field, the issue of the liability for damage caused by AI is currently handled under general civil liability rules, contractual or tort, including under the product liability rules covered by Law No. 240/2004.

7. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the safety of AI’s products.

So far there are no detailed concepts or specific legal requirements regarding safety compliance targeting AI technology.

Pursuant to the Romanian Law implementing EU Directive No. 2016/1148, the Romanian Computer Security Incident Response Team (CERT.RO) is the national cybersecurity centre for monitoring and responding to cybersecurity threats, as well as for standardisation and certification of systems’ cybersecurity procedures, including AI.

8. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the protection of privacy and personal data processed for AI needs.

The provisions of the GDPR apply and the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence issued at the European level by The EU High-Level Expert Group on AI should be taken into account as soft-law provisions.

9. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the non-personal data management for AI needs.

So far there are no detailed concepts or specific legal requirements regarding access to and processing of non-personal (machine) data targeting AI technology.

10. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the protection of the intellectual property works created by AI.

The Copyright law offers legal protection exclusively to works that are original, implying the intervention of a human author. 

In other words, it is currently taking a conservative approach by excluding interpretations that would grant AI any form of legal personality or protection over the IP works. 

11. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding a general approach towards the regulatory intervention associated with the development of AI.

There are no relevant statements from the government officials in this regard.

12. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding a human oversight of AI applications.

There are no relevant statements from the government officials in this regard.

13. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on the competition on the market.

The Romanian Competition Council’s (“RCC”) approach to the enforcement of competition law, including cases of algorithm collusion or unauthorised collection and use of consumer data, follows the approach of the EU Commission.

14. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on consumers.

There is no specific legislation dealing with the impact of AI on consumers, but the consumer protection legal framework applies whenever appropriate.

15. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the impact of AI on employees and candidates for work.

There are no relevant statements from the government officials in this regard.

16. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the use of AI in the financial sector.

There are no relevant statements from the government officials in this regard.

17. Please briefly describe the current state of affairs and the major concepts in your jurisdiction regarding the use of AI in the public sector.

The implementation of AI in the public sector was recently included in the objectives of a newly established governmental institution: the Authority for the Digitisation of Romania (the “Authority”).

The Authority will develop and coordinate the implementation of the national strategy for automation, robotics and artificial intelligence, and will collaborate with digital innovation centres aligned with the objectives of the EU Commission's Digital Europe 2021–2027 Program.

Portrait ofHoria Draghici
Horia Draghici
Partner
Bucharest
Valentina Parvu