Source: transparency.nl
A Bill to strengthen whistleblowing rights and transpose the EU Directive on Whistleblowing has been in Parliament since Summer 2021. Serious concerns have been raised about the Bill.
A committee meeting was held on 21 April 2022 in which the minister announced that she would submit a second memorandum of amendment to the House of Representatives before the Summer in order to meet their wishes. The minister also indicated that ‘quick wins’ will be included in this memorandum and that once the law has been enacted, further necessary amendments will be made that cannot be included in the short term.
To address the perceived shortcomings of the Bill, MP Pieter Omtzigt (rapporteur on whistleblowing protection to the Parliamentary Assemby of the Council of Europe), submitted an initiative note to the Parliament with 15 concrete proposals to improve the protection of whistleblowers in the Netherlands.
The national chapter of NGO Transparency International have stated they are pleased with the proposals and warmly recommended it to the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives.
The recommended changes to the proposed reforms include:
- Remove the public interest requiremen
- Not limiting protection to reports made through designated channels
- Not limiting protection to reports made through designated channels
- Enable anonymous reporting
- Ensuring protection of public disclosure to the media when appropriate
- Fully reversing the burden of proof in whistleblowing cases
- Strengthen gagging orders (also known as non-disclosure agreements)
- Establishing rules to report classified information
- Set up a whistleblower fund
The deadline for all EU Member States to transpose the Directive passed in December last year and infringement proceedings have been launched by the Commission.