Source: derstandard.at
There are reports of a draft law not made publicly available in Austria. One day before the deadline for transposition of the Directive, newspaper DerStandard published an article entitled “Schutz von Whistleblowern: Entscheidende Fragen sind nach wie vor offen”– protection of whistleblowers: crucial questions remain unanswered
The article states that the Ministry of Justice will soon be presenting a first draft whistleblower law. DerStandard, which have obtained a copy of the law, state that the preliminary draft suggests that the government are taking a minimal approach to transposition, not extending protection beyond breaches of EU law, despite serious concerns from civil society, Legal experts and direct encouragement from the Commission to do so.
The article also raises the issue of uncertainty as to whether anonymous reports would be investigated and that the new law includes sanctions for knowingly making false misleading reports. The Recital of the Directive states that such penalties should not be used to dissuade reporting which would undermine the spirit of the law.
It remains to be seen what the final draft will look like when it is finally made available.