EU Court fines Czechia over whistleblower protection directive

Czechia has been fined €2.3 million (about CZK 57.6 million) by the European Commission for failing to implement the Whistleblower Protection Directive, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Thursday. The Court also imposed penalties on Germany, Luxembourg, Estonia, and Hungary over the same issue.

The EC initiated legal action against Czechia in March 2023 for not meeting the deadline for transposing the directive, which expired in December 2021. At that time, the Czech parliament was still debating the law.

The Chamber of Deputies passed the necessary bill in April 2023, and the Senate approved it in June. The law came into effect on August 1, 2023, initially for large companies, and was extended to those with more than 50 employees on December 15.