On October 23, 2019, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament voted to approve European directive n2019/19371 on "the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law." In France, this directive is in the process of being implemented via two bills2 the French Parliament recently adopted. The purpose of these bills is to improve the status of whistleblowers as defined in French law under the Sapin II Act.3 These two bills are under consideration by the Constitutional Council, which should deliver its opinion before the end of March 2022.
The following provisions are subject to delayed enforcement; they are scheduled to take effect the first day of the sixth month following the promulgation of the Law.4 Pending the publication of these two Laws and the publication of the implementing decrees, the new legal whistleblowing framework is summarized below.
An expanded whistleblower qualification
The current article 6 of the Sapin II Act defines a whistleblower as:
a person who discloses or reports, disinterestedly and in good faith, a crime or misdemeanor, a serious and manifest violation of an international commitment duly ratified or approved by France, of a unilateral act of an international organization taken on the basis of such a commitment, of the law or regulations, or of a serious threat or prejudice to the general interest, of which he has personal knowledge.
According to the new Law, this definition will be extended to persons:
reporting...
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