Recital 9
Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law · UE 2019/1937
| (9) | The importance of whistleblower protection in terms of preventing and deterring breaches of Union rules on transport safety, which can endanger human lives, has already been acknowledged in sectorial Union acts on aviation safety, namely in Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8), and maritime transport safety, namely in Directives 2013/54/EU (9) and 2009/16/EC (10) of the European Parliament and of the Council, which provide for tailored measures of protection for whistleblowers as well as specific reporting channels. Those acts also provide for the protection of workers who report their own honest mistakes against retaliation, so-called ‘just culture’. It is necessary to complement the existing elements of whistleblower protection in those two sectors, as well as to provide protection in other transport modes, namely inland waterway, road and railway transport, to enhance the enforcement of safety standards as regards those transport modes. |
In Luxembourg, the law of 16 May 2023 on whistleblower protection does not explicitly carry over the just culture concept of recital 9, but article 4 protects any good-faith report of a breach of national or Union law, which includes transport operational errors. The OFRS is the cross-sectorial external authority, but a railway worker or driver can also report to the ITM for occupational safety aspects, or to the competent sectorial authority (Administration des chemins de fer for rail, ITM for road transport). Criminal sanctions: fines from EUR 1,250 to 25,000 (doubled for repeat offences) for retaliation or obstruction of reporting.
Luxgap practice: map sectorial channels from day one (notably at CFL and CLC operators) and build a unified governance scheme that unambiguously points to the correct recipient, to avoid the dispersion that dilutes protection.
