Hosted by Penkov, Markov & Partners, nine lawyers from Bulgaria – six working in-house and three in private practice – sat down for a round table conversation to discuss the EU Whistleblowing Directive and how it will impact companies in the country.

The Law on whistleblowers’ protection was approved on 29 June 2022 by the Chamber of Deputies. 

Lithuania's SPC Legal and Wint have joined forces to form a new law firm: Noor.

The term "whistleblowing" means a procedure for reporting unlawful, harmful for public interest, potentially damaging or simply morally questionable behaviour at work, which helps to identify inappropriate behaviour or situations in organisations where normal channels of communication would not work or would be difficult to use, mainly because of the fear from sanctions. Reportable wrongdoing can take many forms: corruption, fraud, professional misconduct or negligence.

Although the first draft law transposing EU Directive 2019/1937 (Whistleblowing Directive) into national law has been launched in public debate by the Ministry of Justice in April 2021, the Whistleblowing Directive has not yet been implemented in Romania.

Law No. 129/2019 on preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing and amending and supplementing certain legislative acts (“Law 129/2019”) has been amended by the Government Emergency Ordinance No. 53/2022 published in the Official Gazette, Part I, No. 394 of 21 April 2022 (“GEO 53/2002”).