This is our third detailed monthly roundup of updates provided by the
EU Whistleblowing Monitor team of country editors detailing national developments in the transposition of the EU Directive on Whistleblowing during
September 2020.
As of today, there are
just 14 months and 17 days until the deadline for transposition.
Transposition of the Directive remains
‘in progress’ in 14 countries with 13 Member States remaining listed as
‘not started.’
Following criticisms from civil society experts of the Draft law published in
Czechia last month, the Ministry of Justice is now preparing for a more
detailed impact assessment. You can read more about the concerns of the transposition working group members that the Bill would not sufficiently protect whistleblowers, and that the proposed agency and external reporting system lacked independence from government
here. Due to legislative timetables in Czechia it is unlikely the Bill will pass during the current election period and, despite being comparatively further ahead in the transposition process, Czechia now risks falling behind.
An
international online conference on Whistleblower Protection at Work in the Visegrad Group countries, France and Slovenia (‘WhistlePro’) held by the University of Lodz took place on the 25 September 2020. Presentations were given by academics, public officials and civil society experts providing comparative analysis of current national frameworks in France, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia and the provisions of the Directive – see the programme
here.
This was the first planned conference aimed at improving whistleblower protections in the region and a second event is scheduled to take place in Prague in June 2021. You can watch a recording of the conference
here.
Transparency International
Greece have published a detailed
Report ‘Effective Integration of the EU Directive on the Protection of Whistleblowers, Analysis and Proposals of DD-E” to the Ministry of Justice and the newly established Legislative Drafting Committee.
Another
Policy Paper has been published for Member States by key whistleblowing academics.
“Transposing the EU whistleblower directive into National Law: What every policymaker should know” offers recommendations concerning key aspects of implementation. The paper is written in the context of
Ireland’s government call for submissions but has relevance for advocates in other Member States.
In
Cyprus, MP Irene Charalambidou has called for stronger whistleblowing protection in a recent speech which highlighted the lack of national whistleblowing protection mechanisms compared to other European countries, stating that
protecting whistleblowers was the only way to fight corruption in the country.
Transparency International Secretariat have now published their
comprehensive tool “Assessing Whistleblowing Legislation: Methodology and Guidelines for Assessment against the EU Directive and Best Practice.” The tool Is designed to support policymakers and advocates to assess national legislation, draft laws and any amendments during the legislative process, to ensure optimal transposition of the Directive and to push for strong whistleblowing protection based on internationally recognized best practice.