Source: 2024 Rule of law report – Communication and country chapters – European Commission
The European Commission has published its 2024 Rule of Law Report, with the country chapter for Bulgaria highlighting ongoing deficiencies in the national whistleblower protection system.
The report acknowledges the adoption of an initial whistleblower protection law in February 2023 and a subsequent amending law in October 2023 that addressed key shortcomings. However, it also points to pending reforms, a lack of tangible impact, and continued concerns over the capacity of oversight institutions.
Quote (paras. 159-160):
“Amendments to the recent whistleblowers legislation were adopted by Parliament. As reported in the 2023 Rule of Law Report, an initial whistleblower protection system was adopted on 2 February 2023 aiming to align Bulgarian law with the EU Whistleblowers Directive. A first amending law was adopted in October 2023, which addresses several of the shortcomings of the initial law, in particular some aspects as regards the personal and the material scope and the interim relief measures that should be available to whistleblowers. According to information provided by the Bulgarian authorities, amendments are under preparation to address remaining shortcomings, but these remain to be submitted to Parliament.
This commitment is also included in Bulgaria’s RRP. Moreover, in 2023 the Ombudsman’s powers for conducting an external audit of whistleblowing and whistleblower protection activities were implemented through the creation of a new expert unit. Following these amendments, civil society organisations continue to stress a lack of results and impact on the ground of the whistleblowing system regarding the fight against corruption at this stage. Moreover, civil society organisations continue to criticise the designation of the Commission for Data Protection as the competent authority, noting that it lacks capacity and expertise on the relevant legislation in order to serve as an efficient whistleblower authority, in particular in corruption cases.”
Relevant Link:
2024 Rule of Law Report – Bulgaria Chapter (European Commission)