EU Whistleblowing Monitor – December 2022 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 December 2022.

As of 17 December, it has been 1 year since the deadline for all Member States to have fully transposed Directive 2019/1937.

16 countries are still listed as delayed - 1 Member State is still listed as not started (Hungary).

No country can be yet considered fully transposed - the EU Commission started and progressed infringement proceedings against most Member States. 
 

Thirteen Member States have now adopted Transposition Laws:

• ·       Denmark : ‘Lov om beskyttelse af whistleblowere’ was adopted 24 June 2021 and entered into force 17 December 2021.
• ·       Sweden : ‘Lagen om skydd för personer som rapporterar om missförhållanden’ was adopted 29 September 2021 and entered into force on 17 December 2021.
• ·       Portugal : ‘Proposta de Lei n.º 91/XIV and others’ were adopted 26 November 2021, published 20 December 2021 and enters into force 6 months later.
• ·       Lithuania : ‘Pranešėjų Apsaugos Įstatymas’ was adopted on 16 December 2021 and was due to enter 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.
• ·       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.
• ·       Latvia : ‘Trauksmes celšanas likums’ was adopted on 20 January 2022 and was due to enter into force on 16 February 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.
• ·       Croatia : 'O Proglašenju Zakona O Zašiti Prijavitelja Nepravilnosti' was adopted on 15 April and entered into force on the 23 April 2022.
• Ireland : ‘Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022’ was adopted on 21 July 2022 and entered into force on 01 January 2023
• 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
• Finland : ‘Laki Euroopan unionin ja kansallisen oikeuden rikkomisesta ilmoittavien henkilöiden suojelusta ‘ was adopted on 14 December 2022
• 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 enters into force on 15 February 2022. Further decrees have been adopted to cover the regions of Wallonia, Flemish, German, and French speaking communities.

Transposition Bills have been issued in a further 12 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’
• Slovenia : Predlog Predpisa: Zakon O Zaščiti Prijaviteljev’
• Netherlands : ‘Wijziging van de Wet Huis voor klokkenluiders en enige andere wetten’
• Spain : 'Anteproyecto de Ley reguladora de la protección de las personas que informen sobre infracciones normativas y de lucha contra la corrupción'
• Germany : ‘Entwurf eines Gesetzes für einen besseren Schutz hinweisgebender’
• Austria : ‘HinweisgeberInnenschutzgesetz – HSchG’
• Bulgaria : ‘Закон за защита на лицата, които подават сигнали и съобщават публично информация за неправомерни действия’ - now rejected in Parliament
• Czechia : Návrh zákona, kterým se mění některé zákony v souvislosti s přijetím zákona o ochraně oznamovatelů
• Italy :  Schema di decreto legislativo recante attuazione della direttiva (UE) 2019/1937 riguardante la protezione delle persone che segnalano violazioni del diritto dell'Unione e recante disposizioni riguardanti la protezione delle persone che segnalano violazioni delle disposizioni normative nazionali

December Updates:
 

• New legislation has been adopted in Finland, Greece and Belgium
• Draft laws progress through Parliament in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands
• Draft law approved in Italy, progresses to Parliament
• In Bulgaria, the transposition Bill has been rejected, next steps under discussion*
• The draft law Luxembourg faces new hurdles
• New legislation in Romania enters into force, concerns remain 
• Parliament publishes analysis of draft law in Austria, reporting channel established

* A new draft law has been presented to Parliament in January

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