European cooperation

Since 18 April 2024, the Office for Whistleblowers has been a member of the Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA), which was established in May 2019 in The Hague. The members of NEIWA are ‘competent authorities’ within the meaning of the European Directive 2019/1937 of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of EU law (‘the Directive’). These are state bodies responsible for advising and protecting whistleblowers, monitoring the handling of reports and, in some cases, investigating alerts submitted to them. NEIWA aims to bring together all current and future authorities from all member states of the European Union within the network.

NEIWA enables its members to:

• exchange expertise, theoretical and practical experience, and strategic insights to ensure the protection of whistleblowers and/or the proper handling of alerts,
• strengthen cooperation with the institutions of the European Union,
• identify partners with whom they can assess the effectiveness of their procedures in the context of the three-year review of the legal framework imposed by the Directive,
• jointly develop tools, seminars or position papers.

Through the coordinated engagement of its members, NEIWA seeks to contribute to national and European debates. Its objective is to establish or strengthen an effective system for protecting whistleblowers and for ensuring the proper monitoring and/or processing of reports of breaches, notably by promoting the implementation of the highest standards set out in the Directive, within each EU member state.

The Office takes part in the expert group established under the Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law.