According to her, the proposal, if adopted, may negatively affect the effectiveness of the investigation and the overall level of protection of the EU’s financial interests.
The Chief European Prosecutor, Laura Codruța Kövesiová, addressed a letter to the European Commission (EC) on Friday, in which she pointed out that several elements regarding the changes to the Slovak Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers, which were recently proposed by the Government of the Slovak Republic and which are to be discussed in the Slovak Parliament next week in abbreviated proceedings, are not in accordance with the principles of the rule of law. This is stated on the website of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), reports TASR.
- Laura Codruța Kövesiová drew attention to the inconsistency of the Slovak bill.
- The proposed legislation limits whistleblower protection to selected groups.
- The chief prosecutor emphasizes the risk of retroactivity of the law.
- The changes may affect the investigative processes of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
- The proposal may jeopardize the protection of the financial interests of the European Union.
It came to this conclusion by analyzing the proposed legislation based on the Regulation of the EP and the Council of the EU of December 16, 2020 on the general conditionality regime for the protection of the Union budget.
Limiting Whistleblower Protection
The aim of the proposed law is to limit the protection of whistleblowers to several categories of persons, especially those who are not directly employees of entities whose illegal actions are pointed out, the EPPO statement states. Inadequate protection of all whistleblowers, including police forces, seriously limits the detection, reporting and investigation of crimes, especially corruption, the prosecutor’s office added.
According to her, the aforementioned proposal of the Slovak government also introduces retroactivity of changes which, if adopted, will directly affect live cases dealt with by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Effect on investigation
In this regard, the Chief European Prosecutor informed the European Commission that the proposal, if adopted, may negatively affect the effectiveness of the investigation and the overall level of protection of the EU’s financial interests.
The EPPO is an independent public prosecutor’s office of the European Union. It is responsible for the investigation, prosecution and prosecution of crimes against the EU’s financial interests.
