Library photo: Edouard Olszewski
The EU directive on whistleblower protection was adopted in 2019 and member states had until 17 December 2021 to transpose the legislation into national law. The government last year faced criticism from anti-corruption groups for failing to meet the deadline.
“It’s a text that concerns everyone and inter-ministerially we had to consult everyone and get them on board,” said justice minister Sam Tamson (Déi Gréng). While the directive covers only specific areas of EU law and breaches affecting the financial interests of the union and the internal market, Luxembourg has decided to extend its scope across all national law.
Under the act, whistleblowers are protected from being fired or otherwise punished by their employer. It requires companies of more than 50 employees to set up internal reporting procedures by December 2023. Larger companies of 250 or more employees must do so immediately.
However, a whistleblower is free to forgo internal reporting and turn straight to an external authority. They can also make the information public but in that case must be able to prove they had reasonable grounds to believe that the information they possess poses imminent or obvious danger to public interest or, for example, that the relevant authority is itself involved.
“It’s a matter of judgment,” said Tanson about what constitutes imminent or obvious danger, saying that the application of the text will help define this more clearly. As countries...
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