This is the 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
March 2021.
As of today, there are just
8 months and 11 days until the deadline for transposition of the EU Directive on Whistleblowing.
Transposition remains underway in at least 21 countries and 6 Member States still listed as ‘
not started.’
Country Updates:
05/03/2021 – In
Romania, a draft Bill has been published and
stakeholder consultation took place between 05 and 26 March. Civil Society is alarmed that the proposal restricts protections available under the current framework.*
(*Note: As of 01 April 2021, following demands from civil society, a public consultation (online debate) has been scheduled.)
17/03/2021 – A
draft Law was also published in
Lithuania. Opinions were welcomed from stakeholders until 17 March with
civil society urging the government to reconsider it’s approach and establish a working group to allow debate on more detailed provisions
31/03/2021 – In the
Czech Republic, Civil Society is concerned
Draft Bill to transpose the Directive has not been heard as scheduled in parliament. If the proposal is not prioritized by Government in the Fall then it may likely not be adopted prior to the deadline.
Resources:
WIN and Transparency International published a joint
Report on Progress on transposition launched with an
online webinar and two accompanying blogs which highlight key findings:
Are EU Countries taking whistleblower protection seriously? and
Can transposing the Whistleblower Protection Directive be done on time? Maybe, but not at the cost of transparency and inclusiveness.
WIN has also published its second briefing paper as part of a WIN series on transposition:
“Implementing the EU Directive on Whistleblowing: All internal reporting must be clearly protected in law”
The Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA) have published their
Brussels Declaration which makes several recommendations for governments implementing the Directive including to extend the material scope.
The International Bar Association and The Government Accountability Project have now published their joint report:
Are whistleblowing laws working? A global Study on Whistleblowers Protection Legislation which looks at the successes and shortcoming of whistleblowing protection in 38 countries (including France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden.)
Blueprint for Free Speech have published
analysis on the Draft Law in Germany.
Dimitrios Kafteranis, country editor for Luxembourg, has published this
blog for the University of Chicago on the EU Directive and obstacles for implementation.
Finally, this
open access academic paper from in the Journal of Business Ethics discusses theory of whistleblowing and the Directive from a human rights perspective.
If you would like to highlight your whistleblowing events or activities on the WIN website, please drop us a line on info@whistleblowingnetwork.org