Recently, the European Commission published a fairly critical progress report on the implementation of the European Directive to protect whistleblowers.
On July 4, 2024, the European Commission published a report on member states’ implementation of the EU directive. By and large, it has been implemented far too late and often incompletely. For example, the Netherlands has not yet implemented deterrent sanctions that can be imposed on individuals or organizations that violate the Whistleblower Protection Act. Only recently has a scientific review been completed regarding this topic. More on that in our next newsletter.
Incidentally, a maximum prison sentence of one year can already be imposed on persons who reveal the identity of the reporter. But the Netherlands is not the only country where deterrent sanctions for noncompliance have not yet been created. In addition, some states allow only headquarters to have facilities to receive and follow up on reports. The very purpose of the directive was that whistleblowers could also raise their issue locally, in their physical proximity, to lower the threshold for reporting.
According to the report, some parts of the EU directive have only been adequately implemented by half of the member states. The Commission announced that it would continue to monitor proper implementation and initiate legal proceedings against member states if necessary.
It is unfortunate, however, that it is not immediately apparent from the report in what areas the Netherlands has not implemented the directive entirely correctly. Problematic, for example, is that Holland has not adopted that the follow-up to reports should also provide feedback to the reporter. Some employers infer that the Executive can do that, when that is expressly not the intent of the directive. We also miss the provision that reporting channels must be secured such that unauthorized personnel cannot access them. According to the ministry, this already follows from the AVG. However, this is also EU legislation. We believe there is a reason why the EU directive so explicitly states that only authorized personnel, namely those who receive and follow up on reports, should have access to this information.
Want to know more about relevant legislation? Then take our Whistleblower Protection Act course in practice. We also offer the course in-house and in English. Upon request, we can also address legislation in other countries in the process.
