Like the majority of EU Member States, Belgium missed the deadline to transpose the Directive on time. However, the Belgian parliament has now approved the draft act transposing the Directive for the private sector (the New WB Act). Publication in the Belgian Official Gazette is expected in the coming weeks. The New WB Act will enter into force two months after its date of publication in the Belgian Official Gazette.
Please note that separate whistleblowing schemes for the public sector are also in the pipeline.
The Directive provides protection for a wide range of disclosures of breaches of specific EU regulations, such as product safety, consumer protection, financial services, etc. The New WB Act has broadened the scope of the Directive by also including tax fraud and social fraud. Unlike the text of the Directive, the New WB Act does not list the specific applicable regulations falling within its scope as such. Every breach of a specific regulation that relates to the listed areas falls within the scope of the New WB Act. It is thus clear that the legislator intends that the New WB Act is as broad as possible.
Like the Directive, the New WB will apply to all whistleblowers who have acquired information on breaches in a work-related context. This includes, besides those persons who are employees or self-employed workers, shareholders and persons belonging to the administrative, management or supervisory...
From claims that TMC members were caught by the CRPF in West Bengal to an old, unrelated video falsely shared as a clip of PM Modi, here are five viral pieces of fake news that Team WebQoof debunk...