Preliminary assessment of the second payment request of Romania

 iv)    Comparative document between the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 and articles of
        Law No. 361/2022.

Analysis: The justification and substantiating evidence provided by the Romanian authorities covers all constitutive elements of the milestone. Entry into force of the law on the whistleblowers’ protection.

The Law No. 361/2022 on the protection of whistleblowers in the public interest was published in the Official Journal No. 1218 on 19 December 2022 and entered into force on 19 December 2022, in accordance with Law 24/2000 on legislative technical rules for drafting of legislative acts.

Article 6(2) of Law No. 361/2022 was amended by Law No. 67/2023, that was published in the Romanian Official Journal No. 257 on 28 March 2023 and entered into force on 28 March 2023, in accordance with Law 24/2000 on legislative technical rules for drafting of legislative acts.

The law shall transpose Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. Law No. 361/2022, as amended through Law No. 67/2023, transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1937 in national legislation. The assessment of the compliance with the Directive for the purposes of payments from the Recovery and Resilience Facility does not prejudge the assessment by the Commission in any other proceedings regarding the conformity of the national law with the aforementioned legislation.

Transposition of the Directive’s Article 1 - Purpose

Article 1 of the Directive is transposed into Article 1 of the Law which is establishing the regulatory framework of the Law’s provisions.

Transposition of the Directive’s Article 2 - Material scope

The provisions of the Directive’s Article 2 have been transposed by the Law’s Articles 1 and 3 establishing the scope of protection, minimum standards, and reporting requirements.

Transposition of the Directive’s Article 3 - Relationship with other Union acts and national provisions

The provisions of the Directive’s Article 3 have been transposed by the Law’s Article 1(1) to 1(7), specifying rules and procedures and relationship to other national or Union legislation related to defence and national security, protection of classified information, legal and medical professional privilege, workers’ rights, and others.

Transposition of the Directive’s Article 4 - Personal scope The provisions of the Directive’s Article 4 have been transposed by the Law’s specific paragraphs in Article 2 and Article 20. Article 2 of the Law is transposing the structure and wording of Article 4 of the Directive and defines how it applies to reporting persons. Article 20 (1)(a) and 20(3)(b) and (c) of the Law correspond to requirements in Article 4 of the Directive regarding coverage of protections for whistle-blowers.

Transposition of the Directive’s Article 5 - Definitions

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