Nicușor Dan challenges Romania's integrity law at Constitutional Court, risking 770 million euros in PNRR funds

President challenges integrity law at Constitutional Court

President Nicușor Dan filed a constitutional challenge on Monday, 10 August 2026, against the new integrity law adopted by Parliament, contesting provisions that require life partners of dignitaries to file asset declarations and that allow retroactive loss of mandates. The Constitutional Court (CCR) is scheduled to hear the case on 12 August, alongside a separate challenge filed by USR and PNL parliamentarians. The law is a milestone in Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), and failure to adopt it by 31 August could cost the country 770 million euros.

The Senate gave its final vote on the integrity law last Wednesday, 5 August, after the bill passed both chambers during an extraordinary parliamentary session. PSD and AUR introduced amendments that created tension during committee debates and plenary sessions. A PSD amendment, adopted with AUR votes, provides that any person who received a final decision on incompatibility or conflict of interests before the law enters into force will lose their position within 30 days. An AUR amendment, passed with PSD votes, extends the obligation to file asset and interest declarations to "the spouse or person who has relationships similar to those between spouses" of dignitaries.

Targeted amendments

USR leaders accused the PSD amendment of being tailored for Dominic Fritz, the USR president and mayor of Timișoara, who in June 2026 was declared in conflict of interests by the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The AUR amendment's wording on partners was described by critics as directly targeting Nicușor Dan's partner, Mirabela Grădinaru. She published her asset and interest declarations before the law was adopted by Parliament. According to those declarations, Grădinaru owns eight plots of land, four intravilan and three extravilan, plus a vineyard, most acquired in 2025 through inheritance.

Constitutional arguments

The president's filing argues that the law establishes no objective criteria, such as duration, cohabitation, economic interdependence, or public acknowledgment, for identifying when a relationship becomes legally relevant. The administration said the formulation "spouse or person who has relationships similar to those between spouses" is devoid of any objective benchmark and could lead to unequal application based on subjective assessments.

“An update of integrity legislation is necessary. We need more transparency and credibility in the exercise of public functions and dignities, and Romania has assumed this commitment as a milestone in PNRR. But a legitimate objective cannot justify the introduction of arbitrary and flagrantly unconstitutional provisions, which would sabotage the very purpose pursued.”

The filing states that extending contraventional responsibility to persons who hold no public office and exercise no authority represents an aggravated form of a constitutional vice already identified by the Court in 2025. The administration also invoked the right to private life, arguing that the obligation exceeds limits set by European courts in conflict-of-interest matters. On the retroactivity issue, the president contends that the law transforms a three-year ban on holding public office, which produced effects for the future, into a mechanism that can terminate a mandate already in exercise, violating the constitutional principle of non-retroactivity.

Political reactions

AUR president George Simion posted an ironic message on Facebook after the president's challenge was announced.

“Nicușor Dan does not like transparency: he challenges the ANI law at the CCR. Can you see from the Moon what we see?”

The law risks not entering into force by the end of August, which would mean the PNRR milestone would not be considered fulfilled. Romania could lose 770 million euros at this chapter if the law is not adopted by the 31 August deadline.