The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has fined Germany €34 million for failing to implement EU whistleblower protection laws on time.
The ruling, issued on Thursday, follows a complaint from the European Commission in March 2023, which highlighted Germany’s delayed adoption of the legislation.
Germany’s whistleblower protection law only came into effect in July 2023, despite the EU requiring all member states to implement the directive by the end of 2021.
Alongside Germany, Luxembourg, Hungary, Estonia, and the Czech Republic were also fined for non-compliance or failing to notify the Commission about their national legislation.
The EU introduced its whistleblower protection law in 2019 in response to high-profile scandals such as the “Panama Papers” and concerns over Facebook’s handling of user data. The legislation mandates that member states establish secure reporting channels for whistleblowers to confidentially expose violations of EU law in areas including money laundering, corporate taxation, data protection, and environmental protection.
