What is the scope of application of the Whistleblower Act?

The protection extends to cases where the report concerns a breach in the areas referred to in the Whistleblower Act:

  • public procurement, with the exception of defence and security procurement
  • financial services, financial products and financial markets
  • prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing
  • product safety and compliance with requirements
  • transport safety
  • environmental protection
  • radiation and nuclear safety
  • food and feed safety, animal health and animal welfare
  • public health within the meaning of Article 168 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (NB: section 2 of the Whistleblower Act provides for certain exceptions)
  • consumer protection
  • protection of privacy and personal data, security of network and information systems.

In these areas, the Whistleblower Act applies to reports of acts or omissions

  • that are punishable
  • that may result in an administrative sanction of a penal nature
  • that may seriously jeopardise the achievement of objectives of general interest as referred to in the legislation.

Whistleblower protection also extends to the following persons:

  • persons reporting a breach of EU legislation or regulations on financial management, implementation of expenditure or collection of EU revenue or funds
  • persons reporting a breach of legislation or conditions concerning the granting, use or recovery of EU or national grants or state aid
  • persons reporting a breach of EU or national competition rules
  • persons reporting a breach or an arrangement of EU or national legislation on the taxation of companies and entities with a view to obtaining a tax advantage contrary to the objective or purpose of the legislation
  • persons reporting a breach of other EU or national legislation laid down to protect consumers.

The Whistleblower Act is not applied in the following cases:

  • reporting classified documents or classified information
  • reporting information covered by the secrecy obligation of healthcare personnel or the secrecy obligation of attorneys and legal counsels
  • reporting information on defence and security procurements to which Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union applies
  • reporting information concerning the confidentiality of a court’s decision-making, if specific provisions on it have been made
  • reporting cases where a person has given their informed consent to be defined as a source of information or registered as such in databases maintained by law enforcement authorities.

Detailed information on these exceptions can be found in section 4 of the Whistleblower Act.

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