The below list of transposition laws, bills, publications, tools and other links have been collated by the EU Whistleblowing Monitor Team.
The Whistleblowing International Network Library includes a range of resources - laws, articles, studies, other publications and links - curated to help navigate the myriad of perspectives on global whistleblowing law and practice.
The Whistleblowerprotection.eu Platform also hosts a resources hub for key publications on the EU Directive on Whistleblowing and transposition into Member States national law.
WIN EU BRIEFING 1: Whistleblowing protection laws must cover breaches of national law
WIN EU BRIEFING 2: All internal reporting must be clearly protected by law
WIN EU BRIEFING 3: The burden of proof for whistleblower claims must be fully reversed
***NEW*** Comparative Report: ‘Who Protects Whistleblowers in Europe: Members of the Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities and their Competence’ UOO Whistleblower Protection Office Slovakia, December 2022
Briefing: ‘Protecting whistle-blowers in the EU,’ European Parliamentary Research Service
The University of Göttingen published the new book “Europe's New Whistleblowing Laws, Research Papers from the 2nd European Conference on Whistleblowing Legislation” this year, edited by Simon Gerdemann (Legal Scholar - Georg-August-Unversität Göttingen). This provides readers with a first in-depth look into the emerging field of research that is European Whistleblowing Law.
On March 14, 2023, NGO Oživení published a 'Comparative Study on Whistleblower Protection' to raise awareness about whistleblowing in a number of countries
On 24 March 2023, the Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA) confirmed its establishment of a formal board and constitution. Read here.
Read the minutes of the 7th meeting of the EU Commission Expert Group on transposition.
The Government in Ireland published new interim statutory guidance on whistleblowing to complement the new reforms of the whistleblower law.
NGO Repubblika have published a new Report ‘Protecting Whistleblowers in Malta’ assessing Maltese new law utilizing a WIN compliance standard being developed to provide assessment criteria for both EU Directive and international best practice principles for whistleblowing legislation.
A new European Whistleblowing Institute (EWI) has been established to become a hub of expertise on European whistleblowing with focus areas on education, research, and policy advice. Several articles have been published on their new blog.
Transparency International have published a new tool for public and private organisations to implement internal whistleblowing systems.
A coalition of NGOs have published 10 recommendations to improve draft transposition law in Spain.
The European Commission's expert working group on transposition has published minutes from its 7th meeting. The group was established to support member states with the transposition process. The topic of this meeting was focused on reporting statistics and anonymous reporting.
The Second European Conference on Whistleblowing Legislation is taking place at the University of Göttingen. The event takes place in person and online on the 10th and 11th of September 2022.
Read legal analysis of the transposition Bill in Germany “Still Patchy: On the current government draft for a whistleblower protection law” in Verfassungsblog here.
Read World Whistleblowing Day 2022 blog and preliminary global map of whistleblowing laws, published by Dave Banisar on Linkedin here.
Watch video of Eurocadres conference panel discussion celebrating 5 years of the Whistleblowerprotection.EU platform and transposition held on 22 October 2021 in Madrid here.
Coinciding with the World Whistleblower Day, the Network of European Authorities for the Integrity and Protection of Whistleblowers (NEIWA - Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities), to which the Anti-Fraud Office Catalunya belongs to, releases its Declaration of Barcelona, agreed in the Catalan capital at the 7th meeting of the Network, which took place on June 16-17 and was organized by the Anti-Fraud Office. Read here.
Joint submission of Whistleblower-Netzwerk e.v. and Whistleblowing International Network on the draft law in Germany can be read here.
A 15 point proposal to strengthen minimal transposition Bill in the Netherlands is available here.
UK whistleblowing charity Protect have published ‘Preventing Whistleblowing Victimisation: A Practical Guide for Employers’ available here.
A new report ‘Whistling at the Fake: The crucial role of whistleblowers in countering disinformation’ produced by NATO, Government Accountability Project and Manchester Metropolitan University is now available here.
Read the minutes of the 6th meeting of the EU Commission Expert Group on transposition.
Xnet have published an analysis (here) on the new Spanish law Blueprint for Free Speech (here) have published analysis on the new draft law in Spain.
Transparency International Italia published an article on the delayed transposition of the EU Directive.
Epicentre.Works and Amnesty International released a statement following Julian Hessenthaler’s guilty verdict and what the means for whistleblower protection in Austria.
Lawyers and members of civil society are hosting a conference on the EU Directive in Belgium on 3 May 2022: The European Whistleblowing Directive in Belgium: (R)evolution?
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Guidelines on Whistleblowing have been published: ICC 2022 aims to provide practice guidelines to enterprise and revise original 2008 guidelines to reflect evolving best practices in the Directive and to complement ISO 37002.
The 02 February 2022 public hearing of Halet v. Luxembourg in the European Court of Human Rights, in which the Grand Chamber consider freedom of expression rights under the Convention and evolving standards on whistleblower protection, including the Directive can be watched in French and English via webcast.
WIN and TI have published a progress update on the official transposition deadline.
The Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA) has adopted a new Dublin Declaration on transposition on 10 December 2021.
A new article on the impact and costs of Whistleblowing has been published open access in the Journal of Business Ethics.
The ‘WhistlePro’ Research Project on Workplace Whistleblower Protection in the V4 Countries, France and Slovenia financed by the International Visegrad Fund has now been published open access in several languages.
WIN and Republika have published a statement and blog raising alarm on Malta’s new whistleblowing law. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe General Rapporteur on the protection of whistleblowers has strongly criticized the reforms.
Blueprint for Free Speech have published an article on Spain missing the deadline for transposition.
WIN and it’s Member Protect have published a blog looking at lessons learned from 25 years of UK whistleblowing legislation for implementing the Directive.
Read the minutes of the 5th meeting of the EU Commission Expert Group on transposition here.
TI Austria have published a statement on transposition and key areas of concern for a minimal approach.
Recorded debate at European Parliament Office on Poland’s new whistleblowing law available here (in Polish)
Eurocadres have published their research report on ‘Whistleblowing in European Companies – Industrial relations for successful implementation of reporting channels'.
Latvian NGO Delna have published their opinion on a draft transposition law.
* The press in Malta have reported that Government have confirmed progress is underway however we are not aware of any publicly available official information.
The Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA) has now adopted a ‘final call’ declaration on 17 September 2021, recalling its most important messages on implementing an effective whistleblowing protection framework over the past few years.
The CEELI Institute has published it’s Speaking Up: Protecting Whistleblowers in Central and Eastern Europe. This report focuses specifically on efforts to introduce whistleblower protection legislation in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, and offers practical recommendations to aid the implementation of the EU Directive in each of these jurisdictions.
ISO 37002 on whistleblowing management systems has now been approved and published. These guidelines on implementing whistleblowing arrangements are applicable for any size or sector organisation and whilst generally non-binding the standard may be good leverage to encourage employers to improve systems and take their responsibilities to whistleblowers seriously both in and outside of Europe - a WIN Spotlight is forthcoming.
Read more on developments in France and Denmark in WIN’s piece “A new wave of whistleblowing laws in Europe” which again features Xnet’s proposal formally registered in Spain last year.
Read TI Belgium’s Report which provides analysis of the EU Directive and makes several key recommendations for transposition into Belgium national law. Available in French and Dutch.
The second ‘WhistlePro’ international online conference on Whistleblower Protection at Work in the Visegrad Group countries, France and Slovenia, held by the University of Lodz took place on the 15 June 2020. Presentations were given by academics, public officials and civil society experts providing a comparative analysis of current national frameworks in France, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia and the provisions of the Directive – see the programme here. A recording of the conference can be rewatched here.
Eurocadres published a new guide, 'Role of trade unions in setting up internal whistleblowing channels'. The guide forms part of Eurocadres project “Whistleblowing in European companies: Industrial relations for successful implementation of reporting channels”. The project has been run in collaboration with Maastricht University and the research and the guide have been done by Dr. Vigjilenca Abazi.
Watch TI Ireland’s and other experts online webinar discussing the proposed ‘General Scheme of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill’ to transpose the EU Directive on Whistleblowing into Irish law. Held on 27 May 2021, key experts discuss key provisions and potential loopholes with the potential reform.
An online tool on whistleblowing for trade unions has been developed by Eurocadres includes a transposition toolkit, several interviews with key experts. The free online course is available in six languages.
Read the Whistleblowing International Network’s third briefing paper as part of WIN’s series on transposition: “Implementing the EU Directive on Whistleblowing: Burden of proof for whistleblower claims must be fully reversed” - downloadable here.
Watch UK whistleblowing charity Protect and other experts online webinar ‘Let’s Fix Whistleblowing Law.’ Held on 29 April 2021, key experts and whistleblowers discuss the Public Interest Disclosure Act, Europe’s first whistleblowing law and the urgent need for reform.
Watch Human Rights House online conference session on the transposition of the EU Directive into Croatian national law held on 20 April 2021 here.
The Whistleblowing International Network have published this Spotlight on WIN Member Oživení discussing the role of empirical research into cultural attitudes to whistleblowing and implications for the transposition of the EU Directive in the Czech Republic.
The Whistleblowing International Network and Transparency International have published a joint Report on Progress on transposition launched with an online webinar and two accompanying blogs which highlight key findings: Are EU Countries taking whistleblower protection seriously? and Can transposing the Whistleblower Protection Directive be done on time? Maybe, but not at the cost of transparency and inclusiveness.
Read the minutes of the 4th meeting of the EU Commission Expert Group on the EU Directive on whistleblowing which took place 03 March 2021. The minutes detail the issues facing Member States policy makers as they grapple with the transposition of the Directive into national law.
Read the Whistleblowing International Network’s second briefing paper as part of a WIN series on transposition: “Implementing the EU Directive on Whistleblowing: All internal reporting must be clearly protected in law” – downloadable here.
The International Bar Association and The Government Accountability Project have now published their joint report: Are whistleblowing laws working? A global Study on Whistleblowers Protection Legislation which looks at the successes and shortcoming of whistleblowing protection in 38 countries (including France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden.)
NGO Blueprint for Free Speech have published an analysis on the Draft Law in Germany.
Dimitrios Kafteranis, the EU Whistleblowing Monitor country editor for Luxembourg, has published this blog for the University of Chicago on the EU Directive and obstacles for implementation.
Finally, this open access academic paper from the Journal of Business Ethics discusses the theory of whistleblowing and the Directive from a human rights perspective.
The Whistleblowing International Network, in collaboration with Whistleblower-Netzwerk e.v., have published this Spotlight: “Experts say Germany must change approach to protect whistleblowers” which is a shortened translation setting out legal arguments that verbatim transposition of the Directive which only protects reports of breaches of EU Law is not justifiable under principles of equality under German constitutional law.
The Whistleblowing Impact research group have published this report on the experience of whistleblowers which quantifies the personal cost of whistleblowing. These studies can provide persuasive empirical evidence of the need for laws and policies which comprehensively protect and fully compensate whistleblowers in Europe.
The Whistleblowing International Network held an Event and Call to Action with EU Whistleblowing Monitor partners TI Europe and Eurocadres which proved to be a lively discussion with over 180 people registering to attend.
Read the Whistleblowing International Network’s first briefing paper as part of a WIN series on transposition: “Implementing the EU Directive on Whistleblowing: Whistleblowing protection laws must cover breaches of national law” – downloadable here.
Blueprint for Free Speech have published new research on public perceptions of whistleblowers and their response to public consultation in Spain here.
The Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA) which includes 21 EU Member States have published their Brussels Declaration which makes several recommendations for governments implementing the EU Directive on Whistleblowing including to extend the material scope of protections.
Read the minutes of the 3rd meeting of the EU Commission Expert Group on the EU Directive on whistleblowing which took place 07 December 2021. The minutes details the issues facing policy makers within member states as they grapple with transposing the Directive into national law.
The European Federation of Journalists have published a Transposition Guide on the EU Directive on whistleblowing for journalists, which provides journalists organizations with information on how the directive may affect their profession. The Whistleblowing International Network collaborated with EFJ on this summary briefing of the report.
A new toolkit on whistleblowing for trade unions has been published by Eurocadres in several languages. The best practice guide, developed in collaboration with NGO Protect, also outlines the role of trade unions in the transposition of the Directive. A webinar entitled ‘Workers with Whistles,’ discussing the complex but vital role trade unions play in supporting whistleblowers, took place on 3 December, see here.
Transparency International Irelands initiative Integrity at Work programme hosted an online workshop for prescribed competent authorities to discuss preparations for transposition of the Directive on the 7 December, see here.
The second virtual symposium on ‘The EU Whistleblowers Directive: Transposition Imperative for Ireland’ with analysis relevant to all Member States took place on 11 November.
The Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA), which met in June 2020, has published it’s Rome Declaration which makes ten recommendations for governments to implement the Directive, including to consider various types of interim measures within the workplace to avoid negative consequences for whistleblowers.
An article published on 30 September 2020 by Dimitrios Kafteranis, EU Whistleblowing Monitor Country Editor for Greece ‘Enforcing EU Law: the case of the Whistle- blower’ which discussed the importance of the Directive, can be read here.
Two helpful resources concerning the implementation of GDPR Rules in whistleblowing legislation: The French data protection authorities opinion and Guidelines on processing personal information within a whistleblowing procedure, a 2019 report of the European Data Protection Supervisor (prior to the adoption of the Directive) which sets out some helpful points regarding confidentiality regimes.
Transparency International have published a comprehensive tool “Assessing Whistleblowing Legislation: Methodology and Guidelines for Assessment against the EU Directive and Best Practice.” The tool is designed to support policymakers and advocates to assess national legislation, draft laws and any amendments during the legislative process, to ensure optimal transposition of the Directive and to push for strong whistleblowing protection based on internationally recognized best practice. See also this policy paper with analysis and recommendations for transposition
Read the minutes of the 2nd meeting of the EU Commission Expert Group on the EU Directive on whistleblowing which took place 29 September 2021. The minutes details the issues facing policy makers within member states as they grapple with transposing the Directive into national law.
Transparency International have published a series of blogs which illustrate, using real life stories, how whistleblowers help save lives, the planet, public money and even companies, and why EU Member States need to go beyond the minimum standards when transposing the Directive.
Blueprint for Free Speech have launched a Compliance Checker online tool and Guide ‘Getting Whistleblower Protection Rights: A Practical Guide to Transposing the EU Directive’ designed to evaluate legislative proposals against compliance with the Directive and conformity with international best practice standards (including issues raised by Covid-19.)
A comprehensive report of the inquiry on the Swedish transposition of the Directive has now been published. The 800+ page ‘Increased Security for Whistleblowers’ Report is in Swedish but contains a summary of the investigation in English on page 33.
The Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA), which includes 21 EU Member States, have published their Rome declaration which makes several recommendations for governments implementing the EU Directive on Whistleblowing.
Read the minutes of the 1st meeting of the EU Commission Expert Group on the EU Directive on whistleblowing which took place 06 February 2020. The minutes details the issues facing policy makers within member states as they grapple with transposing the Directive into national law.