Recital 6
Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law · UE 2019/1937
| (6) | Whistleblower protection is necessary to enhance the enforcement of Union law on public procurement. It is necessary, not only to prevent and detect procurement-related fraud and corruption in the context of the implementation of the Union budget, but also to tackle insufficient enforcement of rules on public procurement by national contracting authorities and contracting entities in relation to the execution of works, the supply of products or the provision of services. Breaches of such rules create distortions of competition, increase costs for doing business, undermine the interests of investors and shareholders and, in general, lower attractiveness for investment and create an uneven playing field for all businesses across the Union, thus affecting the proper functioning of the internal market. |
In Luxembourg, the law of 16 May 2023 on the protection of whistleblowers explicitly covers breaches of public procurement law, including those of municipalities and public establishments, with no 50-employee threshold for public sector entities. The OFRS is the transversal external authority, but the Cour des comptes remains competent for contracts involving public funds. Retaliation against a rejected bidder who reports is criminally sanctioned (fines from 1,250 to 25,000 EUR, doubled in case of recidivism).
Luxgap practice: for any entity bidding on Luxembourg public contracts, integrate into your reporting channel a dedicated procurement section with automatic routing to a referent independent from the purchasing department, and retain proof of investigation to respond to any subsequent OFRS audit.
