Romania cutting e-ID plans, risking $310M EU fine

The Romanian government is reducing the number of electronic identity cards it had planned to distribute for free, potentially risking millions of euros in EU fines for failing to implement the digital ID project on time.

The Eastern European country, however, announced last Thursday that it would be lowering the number of free e-IDs from five million to just 3.5 million after a budget cut of 21 million euros (US$24.6 million) to the project.

The cuts are being introduced in order to “secure investment” and “streamline the use of funds” amid the systemic fiscal risk that the Eastern European country is facing, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) explains in an memorandum dated August 14th. The document, which was formally adopted last Thursday, also cites low public interest in obtaining the e-ID.

The news comes just months after the government kicked off the issuance of the cărții electronice de identitate (CEI) in March, earmarking 70 million euros ($82.2 million) for issuing five million free eIDs and another 80 million euros ($93.9 million) for equipping public offices with digital tools and promoting the project.

The digital ID project is backed by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which mandates that Romania issue five million free eIDs by the end of June 2026. The country is also due to develop and implement 11 online public services, introduce a security warning system and start an eID awareness campaign.

Since the official start of the project, however, authorities have only issued 436,674 eIDs nationwide, according to data from August.

The country is also lagging in developing government online services, which will support the use of the new eIDs. As of August, only four out of 11 had been completed, with the rest still in the “analysis and implementation” stage.

The slow pace of e-ID introduction could lead Romania to face a 264 million euro ($310.1 million) fine from the European Commission, the Ministry of Internal Affairs notes. A penalty would represent a further challenge to the country, which is already grappling with a possible recession.

To avoid this scenario, the government has come up with a last-minute plan to boost public awareness of the new e-IDs. The plan includes organizing national caravans to promote the e-IDs, allowing online registration of documents required for issuing IDs and halting the issuance of old models of ID cards.

Romanian eID brings complications instead of simplification

The Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs cites several reasons for the change of its e-ID plan, including a lack of citizen interest. Other government agencies, however, have painted a different picture.

Citizens have complained about huge lines for obtaining e-IDs at registration offices. The General Directorate for Persons Records (DGEP) has also received multiple complaints from citizens regarding the use of the e-ID.

The agency under the Ministry of Administration and Interior notes that public and private institutions are required to purchase readers that allow viewing of the data stored in the e-ID chip, according to August reports from news outlet B1TV.

“The Romanian state actively promotes digitalization, and all institutions must adapt their infrastructure and procedures to these electronic tools, without transferring additional burdens to citizens,” says DGEP.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs says that there are several factors slowing down the adoption of e-ID.

“The initial pace of implementation was a moderate one, determined by several objective factors, among which we mention: the novelty of the project, which required the development and operationalization of entirely new administrative and technical processes; the lack of familiarity of public registry personnel with the new procedures for issuing electronic ID cards; the level of citizen interest in the new documents; and the variable administrative capacity of local authorities,” it states in the memorandum.

Article Topics

digital government  |  digital identity  |  e-ID  |  government services  |  identity management  |  Romania