European Directive 2019/1937 - The Status in EU Member States

With less than two months until the deadline of December 17, 2021, set for the transposition of the European directive on the protection of whistleblowers, progress in member states has been remarkably slow. Where do the member states currently stand?

Astonishingly, according to the EU Whistleblowing Monitor, no member state (out of the 27 members) has transposed the European directive yet.

The transposition is still “in progress” in at least 23 countries, while four member states - Cyprus, Hungary, Luxembourg, and Malta - have yet to even commence the transposition process.

Source : https://www.whistleblowingmonitor.eu/

Over the past few months, developments in some countries include:

• Bulgaria has initiated consultations on a draft law regarding whistleblower protection.
• In Romania, consultations on the draft law continue.
• Estonia has published a significant expert opinion on the draft law.
• Slovakia has launched a Whistleblower Protection Office and a reporting platform.
• Recommendations for an effective transposition of the European directive have been released in Belgium.
• Denmark is currently the only country listed as having adopted a transposition law.

For Context:

The European Directive 2019/1937 seeks to establish standards in the 27 member states for collecting alerts and protecting individuals who report or disclose information about acts related to EU law. It must be transposed by December 17, 2021, for the public sector and companies with more than 249 employees in the private sector, and by December 17, 2023, for private sector entities employing 50 to 249 workers.