Is Germany doing enough to adequately protect people who report violations of EU law?
No, says the EU Commission and decides to go to the European Court of Justice.
Brussels - The EU Commission is taking Germany to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for insufficient protection of whistleblowers.
The Federal Republic is accused of not fully implementing rules to protect people who report violations of EU law, as the commission announced on Wednesday.
The ECJ can impose a fine on Germany in the event of a defeat.
In addition to Germany, seven other EU countries are also being sued.
EU law actually obliges member states to provide whistleblowers with appropriate channels through which they can confidentially report breaches of EU rules.
"This is intended to establish reliable protection against reprisals," the commission said.
So-called whistleblowing is about uncovering and passing on grievances or criminal activities by insiders, who usually have privileged access to information as employees.
In view of several scandals such as the Facebook data leak or the so-called Panama Papers, which only became public through whistleblowers, the EU agreed on new rules in 2019.
The requirements cover, among other things, violations of EU law in the areas of money laundering, corporate taxation, data protection, food and product safety, environmental protection and nuclear safety.
Specifically, it is envisaged that whistleblowers will be free to choose how they report violations.
You will not be required to go to a place within your own organization first.
MEP Rasmus Andresen (Greens) criticized the referral to the European Court of Justice as the "latest act of a true tragedy".
"In Germany there could have been adequate whistleblower protection for years," he said.
The Federal Council had stopped the so-called whistleblower law on Friday.
Bavaria's Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (CSU) stated that the current version of the law on the protection of whistleblowers goes far beyond the EU requirements.
dpa
