Source: ec.europa.eu
The European Commission has decided to refer Germany and seven other member states to the European Court of Justice for failure to transpose and notify national measures for transposing the EU Directive on Whistleblowing.
The official deadline for all 27 Member States to transpose the Directive was 17 December 2021. Only 8 member states adopted legislation in time, and only 17have passed new laws to date.
The Commission initiated infringement proceedings by sending reasoned opinions to 15 Member States in July 2022, and to four Member States in September 2022 for failing to communicate measures fully transposing the directive. The 8 member states not considered to have provided satisfactory replies have been referred to the Court.
Kosmas Zittel, managing director of the Whistleblower-Netzwerk e.V. commented on the Commission action against Germany, stating:
“Without pressure from the EU, there is apparently no whistleblower protection law. Without an EU directive, there probably wouldn’t even have been a draft law. Business and politics have been delaying whistleblower protection for years. The German legislature urgently needs to pass a comprehensive whistleblower protection law if it wants to avoid significant fines.”