EU Whistleblowing Monitor - February 2023 Roundup

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 February 2023. 

It has been over one year and two months since the deadline for all Member States to have fully transposed Directive 2019/1937.

Seven countries are still listed as delayed and no country can be yet considered fully transposed.

The EU Commission initiated infringement proceedings with a formal letter of notice sent to 26 Member States in January 2022 and reasoned opinions sent to 15 Member States in July, and four in September 2022.  As 8 replies were considered unsatisfactory, referrals to the Court of Justice of the European Union were made on the 15 February 2023.

19 Member States have now adopted Transposition Laws:

• Belgium : Federal public sector: Projet de Loi relatif aux canaux de signalement et à la protection des auteurs de signalement d’atteintes à l’intégrité dans les organismes du secteur public fédéral et au sein de la police intégrée was adopted on 08 December 2022 and loi sur la protection des personnes qui signalent des violations au droit de l’Union ou au droit national constatées au sein d’une entité juridique du secteur privé was adopted on 15 December 2022 and entered into force on 15 February 2022. Further decrees have been adopted to cover the regions of Wallonia, Flemish, German, and French speaking communities.

• Croatia : 'O Proglašenju Zakona O Zašiti Prijavitelja Nepravilnosti' was adopted on 15 April and entered into force on the 23 April 2022.
• Cyprus : ‘ περι τησ προστασιασ προσωπων που αναφερουν παραβιασεισ του ενωσιακου και εθνικου δικαιου και αφορουν το δημοσιο συμφερον νομοσ’ was adopted on 20 January 2021.
• Denmark : ‘Lov om beskyttelse af whistleblowere’ was adopted 24 June 2021 and entered into force 17 December 2021.

• Finland : ‘Laki Euroopan unionin ja kansallisen oikeuden rikkomisesta ilmoittavien  henkilöiden suojelusta ‘ was adopted on 14 December 2022.

• France : ’Proposition de Loi visant à améliorer la protection des lanceurs d’alert’ was adopted on 15 February 2022 and was promulgated on 22 March 2022.

• Greece : 'Προστασία προσώπων που αναφέρουν παραβιάσεις ενωσιακού δικαίου - Ενσωμάτωση της Οδηγίας (ΕΕ) 2019/1937 του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου και του Συμβουλίου της 23ης Οκτωβρίου 2019 (L 305) και λοιπές επείγουσες ρυθμίσεις' was adopted on 15 November 2022.
• Ireland : ‘Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022’ was adopted on 21 July 2022 and entered into force on 01 January 2023.

• Latvia : ‘Trauksmes celšanas likums’ was adopted on 20 January 2022 and entered into force on 16 February 2022.
• Lithuania : ‘Pranešėjų Apsaugos Įstatymas’ was adopted on 16 December 2021 and entered into force on 15 February 2021.
• Malta : ‘ATT sabiex jemenda l-Att dwar il-Protezzjoni ta’ Informatur, Kap. 527’ passed the third reading on 14 December 2021.
• Portugal : ‘Proposta de Lei n.º 91/XIV and others’ were adopted 26 November 2021, published 20 December 2021 and entered into force 6 months later.
• Sweden : ‘Lagen om skydd för personer som rapporterar om missförhållanden’ was adopted 29 September 2021 and entered into force on 17 December 2021.

• The Netherlands : ‘Wijziging van de Wet Huis voor klokkenluiders en enige andere wetten’ was adopted 24 January 2023.
• Bulgaria : ‘закон за защита на лицата, подаващи сигнали или публично оповестяващи информация за нарушения’ was published in State Gazette on 02 February 2023 and will enter into force on 2 May 2023.
• Austria : HinweisgeberInnenschutzgesetz – HSchG was adopted on 23 February 2023. *NEW*
• Slovenia : Zakon O Zaščiti Prijaviteljev was adopted on 2 February and entered into force on 22 February 2022. * NEW *
• Spain : Ley 2/2023, de 20 de febrero, reguladora de la protección de las personas que informen sobre infracciones normativas y de lucha contra la corrupción  was adopted on 20 February 2023 and enterers into force after 20 days.  * NEW *
• Italy : Decreto Legislativo 10 March 2023 , n. 24. Was approved on the 9 March, was published in the official Gazette on the 15^th of March and will enter into force from July 17^th 2023. * NEW *

Transposition Bills have been issued in a further 8 countries:

• Estonia : ‘Rikkumisest teavitaja kaitse seaduse eelnõu’
• Luxembourg : Projet de loi 7945
• Poland : ‘Projekt ustawy o ochronie osób zgłaszających naruszenia prawa’
• Slovakia : ‘Návrh zákona (1299), ktorým sa mení a dopĺňa zákon č. 54/2019’
• Czechia : Návrh zákona, kterým se mění některé zákony v souvislosti s přijetím zákona o ochraně oznamovatelů
• Hungary : Proposal Nr. 3089  * NEW *
• Romania : Propunere legislativă privind modificarea art.6 alin.(2) din Legea nr.361/2022 privind protecţia avertizorilor în interes public * NEW *
• Germany : ‘Entwurf eines Gesetzes für einen besseren Schutz hinweisgebender’  - rejected and amended with : Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Ergänzung der Regelungen zum Hinweisgeberschutz 20/5991 and Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Ergänzung der Regelungen zum Hinweisgeberschutz 20/5992 * NEW *

February Updates:

• New laws adopted in Austria, Slovenia and Spain, and in Italy (in March)
• In Hungary, a proposal has been submitted to Parliament
• The EU Commission makes CJEU referral for transposition failure in Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Hungary,  Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, and Spain
• Emergency Amendments proposed in Romania, linked to EU funding threat (in March)

All these and more can be found on the Monitor Resources and Roundup pages.