Source: gov.pl
Poland has adopted a new whistleblowing law to transpose the EU Directive on Whistleblowing into its national legal system. The new law โ Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers – was adopted in the Sejm (Polish Parliament) on the 14 June, signed by the President on 19 June and will be published in the Journal of Law by 4 July. The new law will come into effect three months after promulgation, except for the external reporting rules regarding competent authorities, which have an additional six months to be fully implemented.
Poland is the last of the 27 EU Member States to adopt legislation to transpose the Directive. Many countries were significantly delayed in meeting the official 17 December 2021 two-year deadline to fully implement the new rules. Poland has already been referred to the European Court of Justice for such delays and has been fined 7 million euros in a lump sum, plus an ongoing 40,000 euros a day in additional penalties.
Polandโs transposition process has been complicated. In a blog post published by the European Whistleblowing Institute, Marta Kozak- Maลnicka described the journey to compliance with the Directive’s new requirements as โchaotic.โ