Anti-Fraud Documents

On 17th December 2021 concludes the deadline for states to transpose into national law Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law.

The Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia has drawn up various documents to inform the public about some of the most important provisions of the Directive.

• Proposals to the Preliminary Draft Law regulating the protection of persons reporting regulatory and anti-corruption offenses, transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019, relating to the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. In light of the Preliminary Draft Law submitted to public information, the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia shares the experience of more than ten years in some of the areas covered by the Directive, in order to help clarify and improve some aspects of the Preliminary Draft.
• Internal complaint channel. Thoughts regarding the implementation of internal alert channels in public bodies: regulatory requirements (in Spanish). The Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia addresses the obligation, which directly affects public bodies, to implement internal complaint channels and design the corresponding procedures.
• Nine months for the transposition of the directive on the protection of whistleblowers: do we have any work done? (in Catalan). The head of the Legislation and Legal Affairs Area, Rosa María Pérez, has written this article on the right of whistleblowers to be protected from any form of retaliation, including threats and retaliation attempts.
• Allegations to the public consultation of the Ministry of Justice on the future Law for the Protection of Whistleblowers (in Spanish). The Anti-Fraud Office has participated in the public consultation of the Ministry of Justice on the future Law for the Protection of Alerters. The process has been opened to gather the views of the most representative people and organizations potentially affected by the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law.
• Public health alerts (in Catalan). The Head of the Institutional Relations, Visibility and Participation Division, Lourdes Parramon, has made an analysis on aspects of the protection of whistleblowers from the analysis of media cases related to public health.
• 'Corruption whistleblowers, reporting channels and a culture of integrity' (in Spanish), article by Òscar Roca, Director of Prevention, and Lourdes Parramon, Head of Institutional Relations, which is a chapter in the book ‘Compliance in the public sector‘ by Miquel Fortuny and Sílvia Subirana, Editorial Aranzadi.
• Quick reference guide on the Directive (UE) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019, on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law
• The Proposal for a Law for the comprehensive protection of whistleblowers in the sphere of competence of the Generalitat. The role of the Anti-Fraud Office in the Catalan system of protection for whistleblowers (in Catalan). This document wants to contribute to the work of the Parliament and clarify aspects that would facilitate the institutional fit of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia as a key element of the system of protection for whistleblowers promoted by the Parliament of Catalonia.
• Monographic. European directive for the protection of whistleblowers (in Spanish). The legal cabinet of Anti-Fraud has prepared the present monograph on the European Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law, the whistleblowers, with the aim to inform you about a fully current issue and that is within the areas of our competences and that we consider to be of special interest and transcendence.
• The procedural harassment of the alerters (in Catalan). The Head of the Institutional Relations, Visibility and Participation Division, Lourdes Parramon, has made an analysis of the multiple forms of reprisals faced by whistleblowers.
• Protection of persons reporting and anonymous complaint (III) (in Catalan).
• Protection of persons reporting and anonymous complaint (II) (in Catalan).
• Protection of persons reporting and anonymous complaint (I) (in Catalan). The Head of the Legislation and Legal Affairs Division, Rosa Maria Pérez, has made a brief approximation on the protection of alerting persons and the anonymous complaint regarding the new Directive on the protection of persons who report violations of Union Law.
• Summary of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (in Catalan). This document is a synthesis of the most relevant aspects of the directive grouped by subject.

The Anti-Fraud Office also intervened during the public consultation phase of the proposal for a Directive and drew up various observations and submissions to the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (in Catalan).

Also, the Anti-Fraud Office, in its report The management of conflicts of interest in the public sector of Catalonia, included in its section 5.10 the need to establish internal reporting channels and the protection of persons reporting as a necessary tool to guarantee the effectiveness of all existing tools to manage and detect conflicts of interest.