Romania’s ONJN Initiates Overhaul of National Gambling Framework Under New Leadership

The Romanian National Gambling Office (Oficiul Național pentru Jocuri de Noroc – ONJN) has formally launched a comprehensive review of the country’s governing gambling legislation, signaling a strategic shift away from ad-hoc statutory amendments toward a unified regulatory model. As part of this initiative, the regulator restructured its internal legal working group responsible for drafting primary and secondary legislative acts, establishing a mandate to eliminate persistent statutory overlaps and modernize outdated regulatory provisions.

The structural overhaul follows the appointment of Valentin-Ioan Tomescu as ONJN President in August 2026. Upon assuming leadership, Tomescu initiated a broad operational audit that identified administrative bottlenecks, overlapping jurisdictional rules, and severe staffing shortages within the authority. Rejecting historical practices of enacting piecemeal legislative patches whenever operational issues arise, the ONJN emphasized that establishing market stability requires a cohesive, integrated architecture designed to provide clear compliance standards for licensed operators while bolstering institutional enforcement capacity.

While the ONJN has not yet established a definitive timeline for the release of the updated legislative draft, the authority confirmed that the working group's finalized proposals will be subjected to a public consultation process before being submitted for parliamentary enactment. The ongoing review sits alongside broader national regulatory adjustments, including expanding municipal powers over land-based venue authorizations and pending parliamentary measures regarding marketing restrictions and mandatory self-exclusion protocols.