The Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the "Whistleblowing Directive") was introduced with the aim of establishing safe internal and external channels of reporting for whistleblowers within a variety of different organisations. Under the Whistleblowing Directive, both private and public organisations must provide safe channels for whistleblowers to make reports, following which those individuals will be protected against any retaliation.
The Whistleblowing Directive entered into force on 16 December 2019 and the member states were obliged to implement the Whistleblowing Directive into national law within two years, ie by 17 December 2021. However, the transposition deadline was not met by some jurisdictions. Some others have already transposed the Directive into national law (e.g. Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia) or are about to do so.
The implementation of the Whistleblowing Directive requires companies to introduce or update their whistleblowing policies to comply with the standards set out in the Whistleblowing Directive. Although not all member states were able to meet the December 2021 deadline, international companies should be on the cutting edge and introduce whistleblowing policies which comply with the Whistleblowing Directive in all EU countries in which they operate.
Our European employment team has reviewed the status of the Whistleblowing Directive across the EU, and with the use of a traffic light system, has allocated a level of risk regarding the implementation status of the Directive in the EU.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.