This article examines how Romania’s simplified sustainability-reporting rules may change the information companies provide when entering public-sector supply chains.
A narrower scope under the Romanian transposition
The European Union simplified corporate sustainability reporting in 2026 through the package known as Omnibus, intended to reduce administrative burden and support competitiveness. Romania has transposed those measures through Ministry of Finance Order No. 1.281/2026. Under the transposition, entities that exceed net turnover of 2,250,000,000 lei and an average workforce of 1,000 during the financial year must include sustainability information in the directors’ report. The information must cover both the company’s impact on sustainability matters and the way those matters affect its development, performance and position. Some entities therefore fall outside the CSRD reporting obligations, although that does not remove every sustainability-related information request.
What the change means for suppliers and buyers
The order also introduces a limit on the information large companies may request from smaller partners in their value chains. That matters to businesses seeking public contracts indirectly as well as directly: a supplier may be asked for sustainability data by a major contractor, bank or customer even where the supplier is no longer within the directive’s mandatory reporting scope. Voluntary reporting remains recommended in the source analysis because it can support access to finance and commercial relationships. In procurement terms, the simplified legal perimeter does not create a universal rule that sustainability evidence disappears from qualification, contract-management or supply-chain discussions; requests may still arise from other parties and requirements.
State-owned enterprises retain wider governance duties
For state-owned enterprises, sustainability-related disclosure also sits alongside governance rules that are separate from the CSRD transposition. Law No. 187 of 28 June 2023 amended the framework for public enterprise governance, while Government Emergency Ordinance 109/2011 links board remuneration to financial and non-financial key performance indicators. A public enterprise must submit a report to its supervising public authority and AMEPIP by 31 May of the following year, covering governance, transparency and the progress of financial and non-financial indicators. The OECD’s 2024 guidelines also include a sustainability chapter and call for recognised international reporting standards such as IFRS S1/S2, GRI or CSRD/ESRS. Reporting obligations therefore need to be mapped across the applicable rules, not inferred from CSRD status alone.
IN NUMBERS
For bidders and public buyers, the practical lesson is that a reduced CSRD burden may simplify the formal reporting route without eliminating sustainability scrutiny. Companies should distinguish the information required by Order No. 1.281/2026 from requests arising under governance rules, OECD-related expectations, financing arrangements or customer requirements. Some of those arrangements may require assurance over a report or particular indicators. The source article is an opinion by Dana Mihăilă and Cristina Angheluță, both PwC directors; it does not report a dispute or establish that any company has failed to meet a requirement.
Reported from economica.net, 2026-10-27. The Tender Wire is published by Otnox.
