{"id":1455,"date":"2026-03-03T14:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/?p=1455"},"modified":"2026-03-19T16:44:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:44:01","slug":"what-counts-as-whistleblowing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/2026\/03\/03\/vad-raknas-som-visselblasning\/","title":{"rendered":"What counts as whistleblowing?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What counts as whistleblowing?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The concept of whistleblowing is harmonized at the EU level \u2013 but not entirely uniform in practice.<\/p>

The foundation is in EU Directive (EU) 2019\/1937<\/b><\/span>, but member states have had the opportunity to go beyond the minimum requirements.<\/p>

For companies operating in multiple countries, it is crucial to understand the difference between:<\/p>

  • EU minimum level<\/p><\/li>

  • National extensions<\/p><\/li>

  • The practical risk profile<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

    Here is the structure.<\/p>

    Level 1 \u2013 EU's common minimum level<\/b><\/h2>

    The directive protects the reporting of information concerning:<\/p>

    • Breaches of Union law<\/p><\/li>

    • In specially designated areas<\/p><\/li>

    • When reporting occurs in a work-related context<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

      The areas covered include, among others:<\/p>

      • Public procurement<\/p><\/li>

      • Financial Services and Market Abuse<\/p><\/li>

      • Money laundering and terrorist financing<\/p><\/li>

      • Product safety<\/p><\/li>

      • Transport and nuclear safety<\/p><\/li>

      • Environmental protection<\/p><\/li>

      • Public health<\/p><\/li>

      • Consumer protection<\/p><\/li>

      • Data Protection<\/p><\/li>

      • Protection of the Union's financial interests<\/p><\/li>

      • Competition and State Aid Rules<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

        The protection also applies to:<\/p>

        • Try to hide violations<\/p><\/li>

        • Actions that counteract the purpose of EU rules<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

          It is not required that the violation be proven.<\/p>

          It is enough that the person had reasonable grounds to believe that the information was correct.<\/p>

          This is the common EU core.<\/p>

          Level 2 \u2013 National Variations<\/b><\/h2>

          The directive is a minimum directive. Member States have been given the possibility to extend the protection.<\/p>

          Differences arise here.<\/p>

          Sweden<\/b><\/h2>

          Sweden has introduced broader protection than the directive by also including:<\/p>

          Maladministration that is in the public interest to disclose.<\/p>

          This means that even serious national misconduct can be covered, even if it does not concern EU law.<\/p>

          \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 France<\/b><\/h2>

          Even before the directive, France had a system (Sapin II) with broader protections. In practice, the implementation means that the protections cover more types of serious irregularities than only those that directly concern EU law.<\/p>

          Italy<\/b><\/h2>

          Italy links whistleblower protection to its established compliance model (including the 231 regulations). This means that reporting certain national offenses and company-related irregularities may be covered even outside the directive's narrow EU scope.<\/p>

          Germany<\/b><\/h2>

          Germany has essentially followed the directive's structure but has also opened up for national non-compliance to be covered within the framework of domestic law.<\/p>

          Summary of Level 2<\/b><\/h2>

          In practice, there are three models in Europe:<\/p>

          1. Strict EU model<\/b><\/span> \u2013 Protection only for EU territories.<\/p><\/li>

          2. Expanded national model<\/b><\/span> \u2013 Protection even for serious national misconduct.<\/p><\/li>

          3. Hybrid Model<\/b><\/span> EU Core + Certain National Crimes.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

            This means that the definition of \u201dwhistleblowing\u201d is not entirely identical in all member states.<\/p>

            Level 3 \u2013 What does this mean for your company?<\/b><\/h2>

            For companies operating in multiple countries, an important question arises:<\/p>

            Should you build your whistleblower function according to the minimum level or the broadest model?<\/p>

            The practical reality is that:<\/p>

            • Your whistleblowing function, like your policy, must comply with the minimum protection in national legislation.<\/li>

            • However, employees do not conduct any legal EU analysis before they report.<\/p><\/li>

            • Suppliers don't care about the directive's technical scope.<\/p><\/li>

            • Stakeholders expect serious misconduct to be reported.<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

              Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>

              At the EU level, whistleblowing is linked to infringements in specifically defined areas of law.<\/p>

              But in several Member States, protection has been extended to cover broader categories of serious misconduct.<\/p>

              For international companies, it is therefore wise to:<\/p>

              • Understand the common EU core<\/p><\/li>

              • Identify national variations<\/p><\/li>

              • Build a function that can withstand the broadest application<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

                It creates legal robustness \u2013 and trust.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                What counts as a whistleblowing? The concept of whistleblowing is harmonized at EU level - but not fully uniform in practice. It is based on the EU Directive 2019\/1937, but Member States have had the possibility to go beyond the minimum requirements. For businesses operating in several countries, it is crucial to understand the difference between: EU minimum level National extensions The practical risk picture Here is the structure. Level 1 - EU common minimum level The Directive protects the reporting of information on: Breaches of Union law in specified areas When reporting is done in a work-related context The areas covered include, among others: Public procurement Financial services and market abuse Money laundering and terrorist financing Product safety Transport and nuclear safety Environmental protection Public health Consumer protection Data protection Protection of the Union's financial interests Competition and state aid rules The protection also applies to: Attempts to conceal breaches Conduct that defeats the purpose of EU rules It is not necessary to prove the breach. It is sufficient that the person had reasonable grounds to believe that the information was correct. This is the common EU core. Level 2 - National variations The directive is a minimum directive. Member States have been given the possibility to extend the protection. Here differences arise. \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddea Sweden Sweden has introduced a broader protection than the Directive by also covering: Misconduct that there is a public interest in bringing to light. This means that serious national wrongdoings can also be covered, even if they do not concern EU law. \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 France France already had a system (Sapin II) with broader protection before the Directive. In practice, the implementation means that the protection extends to more types of serious wrongdoing than just those that explicitly concern EU law. \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 Italy Italy links whistleblower protection to its established compliance model (e.g. the 231 framework). This means that reporting of certain national crimes and corporate irregularities can be covered even outside the narrow EU areas covered by the Directive. \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea Germany Germany has essentially followed the structure of the Directive, but has also opened up the possibility of covering national breaches of rules under domestic law. Summary of level 2 In practice, there are three models in Europe: Strict EU model - Protection only for EU territories. Extended national model - Protection also for serious national misconduct. Hybrid model - EU core + certain national offenses. This means that the definition of \u201dwhistleblowing\u201d is not completely identical in all Member States. Level 3 - What does this mean for your business? For companies operating in several countries, an important question arises: should you build your whistleblowing function on the minimum level - or on the broadest model? The practical reality is that: your whistleblowing function as well as your policy must comply with the minimum protection of national law. However, employees do not carry out an EU legal analysis before reporting. Suppliers do not care about the technical scope of the Directive. Stakeholders expect that serious wrongdoings can be reported. Conclusion At EU level, whistleblowing is linked to breaches in specific areas of law. However, in several Member States, protection has been extended to broader categories of serious wrongdoing. For international companies, it is therefore wise to: Understand the common EU core Identify national variations Build a function that can withstand the widest application It creates legal robustness - and trust.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1455"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1576,"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions\/1576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisling.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}