Source: strategy.bg
The Bulgarian Ministry of Justice has opened a public consultation on the transposition of the EU Directive on Whistleblowing into national law.
The “Consultation document on the draft law for the protection of persons who submit reports or publicly disclose information on wrongdoing” was published on 16 September 2021 and is the process is open to anyone (both organizations and members of the public) to submit opinions on a Draft Law structure before the deadline of 18 October 2021. The documents and further information has been made available online.
The Consultation document discusses the aims and key features of the EU Directive on Whistleblowing and outlines 5 main headings for discussion regarding the proposed new legislation needed to implement the Directive which must be fully transposed before the 17th of December 2021:
- Material scope. Whether the law should be limited to the areas set in the Directive or expanded to protect reports of all matters of public interest.
- Competent authorities. Which institutions should establish and maintain external whistleblowing reports and which should have powers to impose sanctions.
- Internal reporting. Whether private sector entities with less than 50 employees (not required under Annex Part I B and Part II) should be obliged to maintain reporting mechanisms.
- Anonymous reporting. Whether it should be accepted and under what conditions.
- Protection measures.
Transparency International Bulgaria said: “It is a positive development that the Ministry of Justice decided on it’s approach and to adopt new legislation to implement the Directive and is consulting on this draft law. It remains however unlikely for the new legislation to be passed before the 17th of December 2021. There is currently no Parliament in Bulgaria after elections in July 2021 failed to form a government.”