Source: whistleblower-net.de
The European Court of Justice (CJEU) has ordered Germany to pay a fine of €34 Million for its failure to transpose the EU Directive on Whistleblowing (Dir(EU)2019/1937) on time.
On 06 March 2025, the CJEU ruled on the case brought by the EU Commission against Germany, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Hungary. The ruling states that the countries failed to communicate their transposition progress in early 2023; imposing fines on all five countries, – nearly €40 million in total – with Germany receiving the largest penalty.
Germany’s whistleblowing law – known as ‘Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz (HinSchG)’ – entered into force on 2 July 2023, over a year after the official 17 December 2021 deadline. The delay was largely due to opposition from the CDU and the CSU political parties – known as the ‘Union.’ The delay was largely due to political opposition from the CDU, a major centre-right party, and the CSU, its Bavarian sister party. Among other objections, critics argued that the proposed law “goes beyond what is required and reasonable under European law.” The parties ultimately agreed to the legislation in May 2023. However, the whistleblowing protection NGO Whistleblower-Netzwork e.V. (WBN) has criticised the law as insufficient, and in violation of the Directive’s minimum standard requirements in several key areas. They filed a formal complaint with the EU Commission in September 2023.
Due to Germany’s federal structure, some aspects of the Directive – particularly those concerning municipal institutions – were implemented even later. This is because legislative competence for local public bodies lies with the individual federal states (Länder), many of which only adopted the necessary laws or regulations in 2024.
Further information:
- Read the full CJEU ruling here.
- Read the WBN complaint to the Commission here.