Spain will sanction administrations or companies that take reprisals against whistleblowers with up to one million euros.
This is one of the novelties included in the preliminary draft of the law to protect leakers that the Council of Ministers approved this Friday, according to the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, at the press conference after the meeting of the Government .
The norm derives from the European directive on leakers (
whistleblowers,
in English), which obliges the entire Public Administration and companies with more than 50 workers to have complaint channels that guarantee confidentiality so that any citizen can report on potential violations without fear of retaliation.
The one known as the whistleblower
directive
(in reference to the Anglo-Saxon term that refers to “the one who blows the whistle”) refers to those who denounce irregularities in their work environment.
The objective of the European standard is to promote initiatives of complaints such as those of Edward Snowden, the consultant who revealed the scope of the interceptions of the United States Security Agency, or José Luis Peñas, the former PP councilor who blew up the
case Gürtel
with his information.
The informant will be protected at all times, to prevent him from having to abandon his previous life or lose his job, as often happens in these cases.
The community directive had to have been transposed before last December 17, but the Spanish law (like that of 23 other Member States) has been delayed, which has led Brussels to file the non-compliant although the Government of Pedro Sánchez trusts in having the law ready in time to avoid a sanction.
The European standard requires companies with more than 50 workers and public administrations to have an internal and secure complaint channel to facilitate complaints, but leaves decisions in the hands of each country as to whether complaints can only be submitted through internal channels. or if there are also external routes.
Finally, the Government has opted for an independent authority to manage an external reporting channel, although the internal channels, in the organizations where they exist,
The main objective of the directive is to protect those who report corrupt practices, fraud or any violation of national or European laws by establishing protected communication channels and prohibiting any retaliation against them, but it is not intended to "replace" reporting channels. usual, Llop has assured.
The receivers of the complaint will be obliged to forward it to the Prosecutor's Office if there are indications of criminal practices and these violations will be settled in court.
The new norm does not sanction infractions, but possible reprisals against the complainant, for which fines of up to one million euros are foreseen.
The law will also contemplate the possibility of filing anonymous complaints, but a system will be enabled to confirm the identity of the complainant.
In the public sector, the European directive gave each state room to decide whether the obligation to have an internal channel is limited to the largest institutions.
In Spain, public administrations (state, regional, provincial, local...), universities, societies and foundations, public corporations and all constitutional bodies, among others, will have to have it.
Municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants may share means to receive information with other municipalities that do not exceed 10,000 inhabitants or with supra-municipal entities of the same autonomous community, although each local corporation has its own person responsible for the internal information system, as reported by the Ministry. of Justice.
All political parties, trade unions, business organizations, as well as the foundations that depend on them, will also be required to have an internal information system, as long as they manage public funds.