1.Member States may introduce or retain provisions more favourable to the rights of reporting persons than those set out in this Directive, without prejudice to Article 22 and Article 23(2).
2.The implementation of this Directive shall under no circumstances constitute grounds for a reduction in the level of protection already afforded by Member States in the areas covered by this Directive.
1.Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 17 December 2021.
2.By way of derogation from paragraph 1, as regards legal entities in the private sector with 50 to 249 workers, Member States shall by 17 December 2023 bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the obligation to establish internal reporting channels under Article 8(3).
3.When Member States adopt the provisions referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, those provisions shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions.
1.Member States shall provide the Commission with all relevant information regarding the implementation and application of this Directive. On the basis of the information provided, the. Commission shall, by 17 December 2023, submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation and application of this Directive.
2.Without prejudice to reporting obligations laid down in other Union legal acts, Member States shall, on an annual basis, submit the following statistics on the reports referred to in Chapter III to the Commission, preferably in an aggregated form, if they are available at a central level in the Member State concerned:
(a)the number of reports received by the competent authorities;
(b)the number of investigations and proceedings initiated as a result of such reports and their outcome; and
(c)if ascertained, the estimated financial damage, and the amounts recovered following investigations and proceedings, related to the breaches reported.
3.The Commission shall, by 17 December 2025, taking into account its report submitted pursuant to paragraph 1 and the Member States' statistics submitted pursuant to paragraph 2, submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council assessing the impact of national law transposing this Directive. The report shall evaluate the way in which this Directive has functioned and consider the need for additional measures, including, where appropriate, amendments with a view to extending the scope of this Directive to further Union acts or areas, in particular the improvement of the working environment to protect workers' health and safety and working conditions.
In addition to the evaluation referred to in the first subparagraph, the report shall evaluate how Member States made use of existing cooperation mechanisms as part of their obligations to follow up on reports regarding breaches falling within the scope of this Directive and more generally how they cooperate in cases of breaches with a cross-border dimension.
4.The Commission shall make the reports referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 public and easily accessible.
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.