Analysis reveals whistleblowing laws fall below EU standard

Update from:

Source: whistleblowingnetwork.org

New analysis from Transparency International has found that most EU countries, including Hungary, do not conform to the minimum requirements of the EU Directive.

The new Report – ‘How well do EU countries protect whistleblowers: Assessing the transposition of the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive’ scrutinises the new whistleblower protection laws adopted in 20 EU member states against the minimum requirements of the Directive and international best practice principles, finding that 19 of the 20 reviewed countries do not comply with EU requirements in at least one of four key areas. These include the rights of whistleblowers to report information directly to the authorities, access remedies and full compensation for damage suffered, obtain free and easily accessible advice, and ensuring proper penalties for those violating the protection provisions.

The report highlights positive and negative elements of the new wave transposition laws, in Hungary highlighting that the legislation had a fragmented whistleblower protection regime which, rather than amending its existing whistleblower protection law to align with the Directives minimum requirement, introduced a special regime for reporting breaches of EU laws. The law also does not provide robust provisions for enforcing the law, does not protect for disclosures to the press, which is not in line with the Directives minimum requirements.

The full report can be read here