EU Whistleblowing Directive – Estonia

Whistleblowers protection already in place

Estonia doesn’t have a comprehensive whistleblowing protection law in place. 

Some laws have provisions relevant to whistleblowing such as the Anti-Corrutpion Act 2012, the Penal Code and the Witness Protection Act.

Current implementation status

The new bill for whistleblowers protection has been published on December 16th, 2021. It was then sent to the Estonian Parliament for reviews.

The new provisions of the bill include:

• An expansion of the material scope of the Directive, covering a wide range of breaches occurring in a course of work
• Prohibition of retaliation including for anonymous reports
• Penalties for use of coercive measures

The draft bill has passed its first reading on 26 January 2022, accompanied with a deadline of 8 February 2022 for submitting proposals for amendments.

Over 300 amendments were proposed by political parties. The Minister claims this had caused the Bill to stall, adding that:

“There is certainly a big difference here because the directive itself only deals with infringements of EU law. This draft was written in a slightly broader form. Unfortunately, this directive is quite detailed as to how the reporting process should be. It is quite detailed and leaves very little room for Member States to find their own solutions. Isn’t that why it seems like over-regulation?”

New Requirements

Reporting obligations

Concerning the feedback, the whistleblower must be provided with feedback on the follow-up action taken as soon as possible, but no later than three months or, in justified cases where the whistleblower has reported the infringement through an external whistleblowing system, six months after receipt of the report.

Concerning the receiving of whistleblowing reports, the draft bill stipulates that whistleblowing can be reported both, internally and externally. Concerning the external whistleblowing system, the corresponding obligation of receiving reports lies with the local competent authority (which has set up the external system).

Get a Head Start 

Having a flexible platform that can adapt to any legislation and regulations can give you a great head start. With Whispli, you can build up your solution according to your current needs, and modify it at any time. 

You can start by complying to the minimum requirement of the EU Directive today and adjust to your local legislation later. 

Get in touch with one of our expert and get a guided demo to see how Whispli can help your Organization to comply with the Directive.