The EU Commission is suing Germany for not protecting whistleblowers well enough. The Federal Ministry of Justice now wants to pass a new law as quickly as possible.
The federal government is hoping for a quick solution to the dispute over the law protecting whistleblowers. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said on Monday in Berlin that there was an interest in the project continuing as quickly as possible. Discussions are currently underway about how to proceed.
Protection of Whistleblowers
The law is intended to protect whistleblowers in the professional environment from reprisals if they report corruption, fraud or other abuses in companies or authorities. However, the Federal Council refused to approve the rules on February 10th. The Union-governed countries in particular have reservations.
Among other things, they criticize the fact that companies with at least 50 employees have to set up positions that whistleblowers can turn to. The government could now call the conciliation committee or rewrite the law so that the approval of the Bundesrat is no longer required. The ministry spokesman did not comment on which of these two paths is being considered.
The law is intended to implement a European Union directive. This should actually have been done by December 17, 2021. The European Commission is taking Germany and seven other countries to the European Court of Justice because the directive has not yet been fully implemented.
This article is originally published on tagesspiegel.de
