Spain has not yet transposed the Whistleblowing Directive

EU Whistleblower Directive: Next December 17 is the deadline and Spain has not yet trasposed the Directive of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (DOUE 26 November 2019).

Deadline

According to the Directive, Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 17 December 2021.

Nevertheless in the private sector with 50 to 249 workers, Member States shall by 17 December 2023 bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the obligation to establish internal reporting channels under Article 8(3).

Purpose and scope

The purpose of this Directive is to enhance the enforcement of Union law and policies in specific areas by laying down common minimum standards providing for a high level of protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law.

This Directive shall apply to reporting persons working in the private or public sector who acquired information on breaches in a work-related context including, at least, the following:

(a) persons having the status of worker, within the meaning of Article 45(1) TFEU, including civil servants;

(b) persons having self-employed status, within the meaning of Article 49 TFEU;

(c) shareholders and persons belonging to the administrative, management or supervisory body of an undertaking, including non-executive members, as well as volunteers and paid or unpaid trainees;

(d) any persons working under the supervision and direction of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.

This Directive shall also apply to reporting persons where they report or publicly disclose information on breaches acquired in a work-based relationship which has since ended.

Finally, the Directive shall also apply to reporting persons whose work-based relationship is yet to begin in cases where information on breaches has been acquired during the recruitment process or other pre-contractual negotiations.