Source: whistleblowingnetwork.org
A new paper “Beyond Paper Rights: Implementing Whistleblower Protections in Central and Eastern Europe,” published by the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative Institute raises concerns regarding the transposition of the EU Directive on Whistleblowing in Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania.
The report examines the current state of implementation and identifies challenges and opportunities for ensuring effective protection in the region.
On Hungary, the report concludes:
“In May 2023, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a revised law removing the provisions that had led to the presidential veto. Nonetheless, significant concerns remain about the state of the transposition law in Hungary. These include that it does not adequately protect whistleblowing to journalists, nor those blowing the whistle on certain topics (including classified materials or court proceedings), and that it provides insufficient legal support for whistleblowers. While the revised law represents an improvement on the prior iteration, it could have gone much further. It was described by one participant at the March workshop as a ‘missed opportunity.’