Source: riksdagen.se
On 29 September 2021, the Swedish Parliament approved new legislation to transpose the EU Directive on Whistleblowing into Swedish national law. The new act received support by all parties represented in Parliament and will enter into force on 17 December 2021, the deadline for transposition for all 27 EU Member States. Sweden will become the second country to have adopted a transposition law, following Denmark which passed a new law in June.
On 28 October 2021, the Government adopted two further supplementary regulations (‘Förordning’) to the new legislation.
Firstly, 30 national authorities have been nominated as competent authorities to handle whistleblowing reports in a new ‘ordinance on protection for persons reporting wrongdoings’. The regulation clarifies which national authorities are responsible for acting as an external channel for each of the policy areas listed in the Directive, with multiple authorities listed for several types of policy areas. The Swedish Work Environment Authority has been selected to be the authority with responsibility for oversight over the functioning of the external reporting channels.
Secondly, an ‘ordinance on state funding for information and advice regarding protection for persons reporting wrongdoings’ was also adopted. Under this regulation, the Swedish Work Environment Authority has been tasked with providing funding to trade unions and employer organisations as well as civil society organisations working on “issues relating to safety and the environment in working life and against corruption and other abuses in the workplace.” The purpose of the grants is to ensure that whistleblowers covered by the protection under the new law receive clear, easily accessible and free information and advice on:
- The nature of the protection afforded under the new framework
- The reporting channels and procedures which must be established
- The processing of personal data; and
- Confidentiality measures including regulation of confidentiality in the investigation of reports of wrongdoing under the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400)