The European Commission is suing several EU member states for their failure to introduce rules to protect whistleblowers. Photo credit: Freepik
Brussels, Feb 15 (CTK) – The European Commission (EC) will file a lawsuit with the EU Court of Justice against the Czech Republic and seven other EU member states for their failure to introduce rules to protect whistleblowers reporting unlawful practices from possible revenge, the Commission said in a statement today.
Alongside the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Hungary and Poland also face EC legal action.
The embedding of the protection of whistleblowers in the legislation of individual EU member states is based on a European directive from October 2019. The deadline for its transposition into national legal systems expired in December 2021.
According to the EC, the directive is crucial for the promotion of EU law in areas where its violation may cause harm to the public interest, such as environment protection, the issuing of public contracts, and nuclear safety.
The Czech government approved the bill in question last November, and it is now being assessed by the Chamber of Deputies constitutional and legal committee. Debate on the bill was paused in early February, and will start again in early March.
The aim of the directive is to create an environment in which whistleblowers will not fear any sanctions for reporting unlawful acts. The measure could protect, for instance, those who reveal corruption and practices at their workplace threatening public health, data protection, safety of products or services, or nuclear safety. It applies to the public sector as well as private firms with 50 or more employees.
