NIS2 Romania: The Definitive Guide to Compliance and Implementation

If you’ve been losing sleep over cybersecurity regulations lately, you aren’t alone. The European landscape shifted significantly with the arrival of the NIS2 Directive, and Romania hasn’t just “joined the club”. The local authorities moved with surprising speed to make these rules the law of the land. Whether you’re leading a multinational or a local critical service provider, the days of treating cybersecurity as an optional IT line item are officially over.

Romania transposed the NIS2 Directive (Directive (EU) 2022/2555) primarily through Government Emergency Ordinance (GEO) No. 155/2024, later approved and amended by Law No. 124/2025, which entered into force on 10 July 2025. This framework replaces Romania’s previous NIS regime under Law No. 362/2018 with much sharper teeth. 

In this article, I’ll break down how the rules work in practice, what the real deadlines look like, and how to avoid the eye-watering fines that now loom over non-compliant boards.

TL;DR: The Essentials

Romania has implemented NIS2 through GEO 155/2024, approved and refined by Law 124/2025, turning NIS2 into an active legal obligation for a very large number of entities (often estimated in the tens of thousands).

Here’s what matters most:

• Registration is mandatory: Entities in scope had 30 days from 20 August 2025 (when DNSC’s implementing orders entered into force) to notify and register with the National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC). Most guidance places the deadline around 19 September 2025.
  
• Management is on the hook: Boards and directors carry personal accountability and must ensure cybersecurity oversight and training obligations are met.
  
• Reporting is fast: You have 24 hours to issue an early warning, 72 hours to submit a follow-up notification, and one month for the final incident report.
  
• Fines are massive: Penalties can reach €10 million or 2% of total worldwide annual turnover for essential entities, with lower, but still painful, caps for important ones.

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Timelines and Legislative Milestones

Romania didn’t drag its feet on NIS2. While the EU deadline was 17 October 2024, the country crossed the finish line shortly after.

The main starting gun fired on 30 December 2024, when the government adopted GEO No. 155/2024. This ordinance replaced the old NIS1 framework and introduced a much broader, risk-based cybersecurity regime for Romania’s civil national cyberspace.

Parliament then stepped in with Law No. 124/2025, which entered into force on 10 July 2025. This law didn’t just rubber-stamp the ordinance. Instead, it refined it and expanded the scope, notably bringing parts of the pharmaceutical supply chain explicitly into focus.

The real operational switch flipped on 20 August 2025, when DNSC issued:

• Order No. 1/2025 (registration and notification rules), and
• Order No. 2/2025 (risk management and incident classification criteria).

These orders triggered a 30-day window for existing entities to notify DNSC of their status. If you’re only checking now, you’re officially late and should treat registration as a priority task.

Structure and National Specificities of the Law

Romania follows the EU’s familiar “essential” vs. “important” entity classification, but with a few local twists that catch many organizations off guard.

One of the biggest surprises is the healthcare and pharma sectors. Through the amendments introduced by Law 124/2025, Romania expanded the list of highly critical sectors to include:

• Pharmaceutical wholesalers (NACE 4646), and
• Retail pharmacies (NACE 4773).
  

This reflects a strong national focus on health system resilience. In practice, these additions often push pharma actors into stricter oversight, subject to DNSC’s qualification decision.

Another point many teams miss: NIS2 Romania isn’t just about technology, it’s about governance. Once DNSC formally identifies an entity as essential or important, the management body must designate a person responsible for cybersecurity within 30 days of that notification. This is a governance obligation, not a box-ticking IT task.

Real Implementation Roadmap (2025–2026)

At this point, we’re past “estimated timelines” and deep into real-world execution. Here’s how implementation actually plays out.

Practical roadmap

Phase 1: Identification & Registration (Completed – September 2025)

Entities used the NIS2@RO platform to notify DNSC of their status. If this step was missed, late registration should be your first move.

Phase 2: Governance & Appointment (Current)

Organizations are formalizing internal responsibility:

• appointing the cybersecurity-responsible person, and
  
• ensuring boards understand and meet their cyber-risk oversight and training obligations.
  

Phase 3: Risk & Maturity Assessments (Post-registration)

This part is frequently misunderstood.

After DNSC’s qualification decision:

• a risk-level assessment must be submitted within 60 days,
• followed by a maturity self-assessment within 60 days after submitting the risk assessment.

These are formal submissions, not internal slide decks.

Phase 4: Remediation & Audits (Ongoing)

If gaps are identified, essential entities must submit a remediation plan within 30 days of completing the maturity assessment. DNSC is now fully empowered to conduct document-based and on-site inspections to verify compliance.

Fines and Enforcement: The High Cost of Silence

This is the part that keeps CFOs awake.

DNSC isn’t just a guidance body; it can issue binding instructions and impose serious penalties. For essential entities, fines can reach €10 million or 2% of total worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher. For important entities, the cap drops to €7 million or 1.4% of worldwide turnover.

And yes, Romania explicitly uses global turnover. If you’re a Romanian subsidiary of a large international group, the fine isn’t calculated on your local revenue.

Repeat offenders face an additional sting: the law allows for a 50% increase over the applicable fine cap. Public-sector entities may be subject to non-monetary sanctions such as compliance orders and public disclosure, often a reputational nightmare in its own right.

Short Checklist: How to Prepare

No panic required, just a plan:

• Confirm your status: Check whether you qualify as Essential or Important under DNSC criteria.
  
• Register (if you haven’t): Use the NIS2@RO platform immediately.
  
• Train the C-Suite: Boards are expected to understand and actively oversee cyber risk.
  
• Audit your supply chain: NIS2 applies to dependencies and vendors, not just internal systems.
  
• Enable 24/7 monitoring: You can’t report an incident in 24 hours if you only notice it days later.
  
• Use automation wisely: Platforms like Copla can reduce the manual burden of ongoing assessments and audit readiness.
  

Make NIS2 Compliance a Calm, Continuous Operating System, Not a Last-Minute Audit Project

Copla is built for teams that need NIS2 compliance without burning out staff or blowing the budget. It combines an automation-first GRC platform with experienced CISO oversight. That gives you four clear advantages:

• Cuts compliance workload by up to 80%
• Automates key NIS2 tasks across controls, evidence, and registers
• Guides execution step by step with clear ownership and built-in prompts
• Gives you CISO-level leadership without hiring a full internal team

On top of that, teams typically save €60K+ per year versus adding in-house capacity for the same workload, while staying continuously audit-ready, not “ready when the audit starts.”

Moving Beyond Compliance

NIS2 Romania isn’t a one-off registration exercise; it’s a permanent shift toward risk-based cybersecurity governance. While the initial deadlines have passed, the real work lies in maintaining visibility, accountability, and resilience over time.

Treat it as a governance upgrade, not a compliance tax, and you’ll end up stronger against real-world threats, not just regulators.