Unlawful activities and abuse of law may occur in any organisation, whether private or public, large or small. They can take many forms, corruption, fraud, businesses’ malpractice or negligence. If they are not addressed, they can result in serious harm to the public interest. People who work for an organisation or are in contact with it in their work-related activities are often the first to know about such occurrences and are, therefore, in a privileged position to inform those who can address the problem.
Persons who acquired such information in the context of their work-related activities and report about it (‘whistleblowers’) feed national and EU enforcement systems. This helps to prevent and address breaches of EU law. Providing whistleblowers with strong protection against retaliation is essential to encourage reporting and strengthen the effectiveness of EU law. Giving whistleblowers this protection is also key for safeguarding their freedom of expression, enshrined in Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
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 ‘Whistleblower Protection Directive’) sets minimum standards at EU level, aiming to guarantee a high level of balanced and effective protection for persons reporting on breaches of rules (e.g. on public procurement, financial services, anti-money laundering, food safety, transport safety, consumer protection, protection of the environment, or public health).
The Directive requires that:
- whistleblowers have at their disposal effective channels to report breaches of EU rules confidentially, both internally (within an organisation) and externally (to a competent authority)
- whistleblowers’ reports are properly investigated and acted upon by the organisations and competent authorities
- whistleblowers are protected from retaliation
Solenix offers the following methods to those wishing to submit a report:
Hot-line: +49-6257-9564433
E-mail: meldungen@drei.plus
Post:
dreiplus GmbH
Meldungen
Hochstraße 11
64665 Alsbach-Hähnlein
Germany
Reports can be signed or anonymous, and are submitted without intermediaries to the internal reporting office (1). Once the office receives the report, it will confirm receipt within seven days of submission and provide the whistleblower with feedback on the status of the procedure within three months of confirming receipt of the report.
(1) Solenix has designated the company dreiplus to act as its Internal Reporting Office.
Bear in mind that making a false accusation can be understood as a criminal offense according to the applicable law.