EU Whistleblowing Monitor - Roundup of Updates May 2025
Date Published: 9 June 2025
This is the latest roundup of updates provided by the EU Whistleblowing Monitor team of country editors detailing national developments in the transposition and implementation of the EU Directive on Whistleblowing.
It has now been more than three years since the deadline for all Member States to have fully transposed Directive 2019/1937. All 27 countries have adopted transposition legislation.
No country can yet be considered fully transposed – the EU Commission started and progressed infringement proceedings against most Member States and made several referrals to the European Court of Justice for transposition delays. Several Member States have been ordered to pay significant financial penalties. The Commission has published its conformity report assessing Member States’ transposition efforts, however, no formal action has been taken regards non-compliance to date.
Updates:
- EU Court fines five Member States nearly €40 million for failures
- New Independent Whistleblowing Authority Established in Spain
- First official report on whistleblowing in public bodies in Ireland
- Weak sanctions cause concern in Italy
- Marked increase in whistleblowing reports in Austria and France
- New whistleblowing guidelines on whistleblowing in Poland
- New findings cause for concern for whistleblowers in France
- Malta – Whistleblowing Law Under Scrutiny Amid Low Protection Rates
- Media reports on whistleblower cases in Ireland, Austria, Czech Republic and Ireland.
- Croatian Ombuds published new whistleblowing Guide
- New whistleblowing hotline launched in Cyprus, and training underway
- New whistleblower case data and portal launched in Czech Republic
- Government Whistleblowing Case Recognised in Court
- France – New report highlights surge in reports, alongside worrying trend for whistleblowers in new research
- New Report finds EU Directive spurs surge in whistleblowing reports
Resources:
- Network European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities’ new comparative analysis of models for following up on reports
- New analysis from the UK provides a methodology for assessing the costs of whistleblowing failures to the public purse
- International Labour Organisation issues new paper mapping pubic sector whistleblowing laws
- Watch the European Whistleblowing Institute Webinar ‘Three years post-transposition: lessons, challenges and tools for enhancing whistleblower protection”
- NAVEX Regional Whistleblowing and Incident Management Benchmark 2024 Report
- Croatian Ombudsman Guide for Whistleblowers
All twenty-seven Member States have now adopted Transposition Laws:
- Austria: (HinweisgeberInnenschutzgesetz – HSchG) was adopted on 01 February 2023 and entered into force on the 25 February 2023 and selected provisions postponed until 25 August and 17 December 2023
- 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 was adopted on 15 December 2022. Further decrees have been adopted to cover the regions of Wallonia, Flemish, German, and French speaking communities.
- Bulgaria: ‘Закон за защита на лицата, които подават сигнали и съобщават публично информация за неправомерни действия’ , was adopted on 27 January 2023 and entered into force on 4 May 2023. Ordanance on the maintenance of the register of whistleblowers pursuant to the Whistleblowing Act entered into force 4 August 2023
- 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 and entered into force on 4 February 2023.
- Czechia: Návrh zákona, kterým se mění některé zákony v souvislosti s přijetím zákona o ochraně oznamovatelů, was adopted on 1 June 2023 and entered into force on 01 August 2023.
- Denmark: ‘Lov om beskyttelse af whistleblowere’ was adopted 24 June 2021 and entered into force 17 December 2021.
- Estonia: Act on the Protection of Whistleblower of Work-Related Violations of European Union Law Adopted on 15 May 2024, approved 24 May and will enter force 1 September 2024
- Finland: ‘Laki Euroopan unionin ja kansallisen oikeuden rikkomisesta ilmoittavien henkilöiden suojelusta‘ was adopted on 14 December 2022 and entered into force on January 2023.
- 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 and with some provisions entering into force on 11 May and 17 December 2023.
- Germany: ‘Gesetz für einen besseren Schutz hinweisgebender Personen sowie zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie zum Schutz von Personen, die Verstöße gegen das Unionsrecht melden (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetzesetz)’ was adopted on 9 May 2023 and entered into force on 02 July 2023.
- Hungary: Proposal Nr. 3089 was adopted on 25 May 2023 with selected provisions, will enter into force on 24 July 2023 and others postponed to 2025.
- Ireland: ‘Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022’ was adopted on 21 July 2022 and entered into force on 01 January 2023 and the Statutory Instrument No. 375 of 2023 European Union (Protection of Persons who Report Breaches of Union law) regulations 2023 was adopted on the 19 July 2023 and came into force on the 22 July 2023. The new legislation has been incorporated into a consolidated Revised Protected Disclosure Act. 2014
- Latvia: ‘Trauksmes celšanas likums’ was adopted on 20 January 2022 and was due to enter into force on 16 February 2022.
- Lithuania: ‘Pranešėjų Apsaugos Įstatymas’ was adopted on 16 December 2021 and was due to enter into force on 15 February 2021.
- Luxembourg: Loi du 16 mai 2023 portant transposition de la directive (UE) 2019/1937 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 23 octobre 2019 sur la protection des personnes qui signalent des violations du droit de l’Union. – Legilux (public.lu) was adopted on 16 May 2023 and entered into force on 21 May 2023.
- Malta: ‘ATT sabiex jemenda l-Att dwar il-Protezzjoni ta’ Informatur, Kap. 527’ was adopted on 14 December 2021 and entered into force on 24 December 2021.
- Poland: ‘Ustawa z dnia 14 czerwca 2024 r. o ochronie sygnalistów’ was adopted on 14 June 2024 and will enter into force 3 months after promulgation on 4 July 2024 (some provisions six months.
- Portugal: ‘Lei n.º 93/2021, de 20 de Dezembro and others’ was adopted 26 November 2021, published 20 December 2021 and entered into force 18 June 2022.
- 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 and entered into force on 18 February 2023.
- Slovakia: Act No. 189/2019 Coll. (the Amendment Act), amending Act No. 54/2019 Coll. on the Protection of Whistleblowers (and others), was adopted on 10 May 2023 and came into effect on 1 July 2023 with some provisions postponed until 1 September 2023.
- Slovenia: Zakon O Zaščiti Prijaviteljev was adopted on 2 February and entered into force on 22 February 2022.
- 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 entered into force on 17 December 2021.
- Italy: D.lgs 10 marzo 2023, n. 24, ubblicato in Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 63 del 15 marzo 2023, costituisce il provvedimento attuativo della Direttiva (UE) 2019/1937 Was approved on the 9 March, was published in the official Gazette on the 10 March 2023 and entered into force from July 15th 2023, with selected provisions delayed until 17 December 2023.
- Romania: Law No. 67/2023 and Propunere legislativă privind modificarea art.6 alin.(2) din Legea nr.361/2022 privind protecţia avertizorilor în interes public was adopted on 14 March 2023 and entered into force on 28 March 2023.
Look out for the new revamp of the EU Whistleblowing Monitor, coming soon!