The European Union's highest court on Thursday has ordered Germany to pay €34 million over its failure to adequately protect whistleblowers.
The case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg was based on a complaint by the European Commission from March 2023 alleging that Germany did not implement EU legislation on time.
The EU passed its legislation in 2019 after whistleblowers played a decisive role in uncovering several scandals, such as the so-called Panama Papers or Facebook's handling of user data.
EU countries had until the end of 2021 to transpose the European legislation into national law. Germany's whistleblower law entered into force in July 2023.
Together with Germany, Luxembourg, Hungary, Estonia and the Czech Republic have also been fined for their failure to implement the law or to inform the commission about the adoption of national legislation.
EU countries are obliged to provide suitable channels through which breaches of EU legislation can be confidentially reported by whistleblowers.
"By reporting breaches of Union law that are harmful to the public interest, such persons act as ‘whistleblowers’ and thereby play a key role in exposing and preventing such breaches and in safeguarding the welfare of society," the EU law reads.
"However, potential whistleblowers are often discouraged from reporting their concerns or suspicions for fear of retaliation."
The rules cover violations of EU law in the areas of money laundering, corporate taxation, data protection, food and product safety, environmental protection and nuclear safety.
- European Court
- Fines
- Germany
- €34m
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
