Whistleblowing in Italy, Austria, Estonia, France, Ireland, Romania and Slovenia

1. Introduction

The analysis will be carried out taking account of the recent approval of the EU Directive on Whistleblower Protection, to highlight the existing national provisions which are in accordance to the Directive requirements and the efforts that countries still have to make in order to implement it. 

Only three of the seven examined countries have a national law dedicated entirely to whistleblower protection: Romania, Ireland and Italy. Among them, Romania is the forerunner, as its law dates back to 2004, while in Ireland and Italy the standalone legislation on whistleblowing entered into force, respectively, in 2014 and 2017.

However, both in Ireland and in Italy, whistleblowers already received protection before the enactment of the law. In Ireland, there were several sector-based agreements which concerned members of the public, some of which remained in force. In Italy, the first provision ever intended to protect public sector whistleblowers from retaliation was introduced in 2012 by Anti-Corruption Law no. 190, and there are other rules dedicated to whistleblowing in specific sectors, which are still in force. 

In other countries, protection is granted through more comprehensive laws or provisions in sector-based laws. 

However, France must be distinguished among them. Although it does not have a law whose exclusive purpose is to protect whistleblowers, the so-called “Sapin 2 Law” includes a general statute for whistleblowers that applies both in public and private sectors and to all reports. The Sapin 2 Law coexists with different special regimes applicable according to the type of employment of the public official or the sector in which the alert is issued. 

Both Estonia and Slovenia have an Anti-Corruption Law that only protects whistleblowers who report on corruption, although with a key difference. The Estonian Anti-Corruption Act has limited personal scope, as it provides protection only to public officials who report corruption regarding other public officials. Conversely, the Slovenian Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act provides that anyone can report any kind of corruption. However, the Slovenian Act also gives specific protection to official persons who report unethical or illegal conduct they have been requested in their sphere of work. In both countries, other provisions within legal acts could apply to whistleblowers, although not envisaging them specifically. 

Whistleblowers in Austria are only mentioned in the Securities/Stock Exchange Act and corporate law. Their protection is either limited to specific sectors or for specific types of wrongdoing; other relevant laws may apply. Austria, Estonia, Romania and Slovenia do not have designated soft law tools on whistleblowing, but in Romania and Slovenia there are ethical codes, which are only morally binding documents. Conversely, Italy, France and Ireland have soft law guidance documents to support the effective implementation of the law.