The European Union’s highest court has fined Germany €34 million ($36.7 million) for failing to adequately protect whistleblowers. The case at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ) stemmed from a complaint by the European Commission in March 2023, alleging that Germany did not implement EU law on time. In addition to Germany, four other countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, and Estonia – were also ordered to pay fines for their failure to create laws protecting whistleblowers. The fines ranged from €2.3 million for the Czech Republic to €500,000 for Luxembourg and Estonia. The EU’s whistleblower directive is designed to give protection to people in the public and private sectors to disclose wrongdoing and shield them from reprisals. Germany’s Whistleblower Protection Act did not enter into force until July 2023, after the deadline of December 2019.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-fined-%E2%82%AC34-million-for-late-whistleblower-protection/a-71843936?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf