Does the Whistleblower Directive apply directly to us, or can an organization (without consequences) wait for national legislation?
ANSWER
It depends on the type of organization.
The requirement for the direct application of the Directive concerns vertical relationships: between a citizen and an entity whose activities constitute an "emanation of the state."
This follows from the established case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which recognizes the direct effect of directives in vertical relationships, including situations where a directive has not been implemented within the required deadline.
In other words, organizations that can be regarded as carrying out state functions may be required to apply the Directive directly even before it is fully transposed into national law, whereas purely private-sector entities generally cannot have directives applied directly against them in the same way.
