The project SAFE-IN

“Strengthening Actions against Fraud: Empowering whistleblowINg directive compliance”

aims at:

Promoting awareness and understanding on the New EU Whistleblowing directive in order to contribute to its effective implementation by Public Authorities, SMEs and Public Control Entities through the development of specific training courses, so as to reduce and combat fraud and corruption, thereby protecting the financial interests of the EU. In general, the project provides concrete solutions to effectively combat fraud by promoting awareness and equipping them with the necessary tools and expertise to implement the new European directive.

Framework: Fraud is a significant problem in the European Union, the cost of fraud to the EU budget and national budgets of member states is significant, and the impact of fraud extends beyond financial losses to the erosion of public trust in the EU’s institutions and the undermining of the rule of law.

European Parliament adopted the New EU directive on “Whistleblowing” in 2019, aiming to provide a high level of protection to whistleblowers who report violations of EU law across sectors like public procurement, financial services, environmental protection, and public health.

The context for the implementation at the European level is still not entirely favorable as a matter of fact, a study by Transparency International EU in 2022 assessed the progress made by EU states in implementing the Whistleblower Directive. It revealed that only a few countries had fully transposed the directive into national law and established effective whistleblower protection mechanisms.

To meet G.O. and S.O.s, the project will be set into three key actions:

✅ ANCI Lombardia with the support of Trasparency International Italia, will conduct an in-depth analysis of the European and Italian context to summarise the regulatory framework and compare the implementation of the new directive and will conduct the analysis of the target groups’ needs at the European level with regard to the implementation of the “Whistleblowing” legislation, to understand the areas in which training is most necessary;

✅ANCI Lombardia will design targeted training courses, one for Public Authorities, one for SMEs, and one for Control Public Entities Public Authorities. By using the newly developed model, our Association will be able to train, raise awareness, and build the capacity of the target group for an effective implementation of the European directive. The courses will have both a theoretical approach, aimed at improving the knowledge of course participants, and a practical aspect through workshops in order to develop the right tools for implementing the regulations;

✅The last phase requires sharing at European level guidelines and good practices that will be tailored to meet the needs of public administration staff, municipalities, national authorities, companies, employers, employees, and the general public, in order to improve their understanding, knowledge, and implementation of the new directive.