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Description
Whistleblowing is not favoured in Estonia. The problem is systemic because Estonian legislation does not sufficiently regulate whistleblowing and society shares a negative view on reporting. The aim of the project is to ensure that whistleblower''s are protected in the Estonian legislative framework. For that TIEE (Corruption-free Estonia, i.e. Transparency International Estonia chapter) engages in advocacy activities to ensure that EU Directive on whistleblowing is adopted to the Estonian legislation with highest regard to whistleblowers’ rights. Legal Counsel of TIEE develops recommendations that are guided by international standards, Transparency International and Whistleblowing International Network experiences.
To ensure that whistleblowing mechanisms are adopted in more enterprises, TIEE will develop a freely accessible and thorough e-course and information and guidance materials. Members of the Business Integrity Forum (BIF) and TIEE expert members guide these activities. To raise awareness of whistleblowing among both Estonian and Russian-speaking youth an information campaign will be carried out.
Summary of project results
In the long run, Estonian society has become increasingly transparent and ethical. This is reflected in the annual international Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), according to which Estonia, with a score of 73 in 2018, ranks as the 18th country in the world with the lowest perceived corruption. In 2012, however, Estonia ranked only 32nd with a score of 64. Whistleblowers play a significant role in the prevention and detection of corruption. Thanks to whistleblowers, the international public has become aware of cases like the Panama Papers, the Luxembourg Leaks, the NSA''s illegal surveillance, and U.S. war operations against civilians.
In Estonian society, there are still negative attitudes toward whistleblowers due to historical reasons. Comparisons are still made with "informants," "snitches," and other Soviet-era leakers who were viewed more as traitors than as defenders of the public interest. Examples of whistleblowing in Estonia reveal that whistleblowers face persecution, and their confidentiality is not adequately protected.
People refrain from reporting misconduct for both personal and broader, systemic reasons. On a personal level, they fear persecution, dismissal, financial and reputational damage, condemnation from colleagues and the public, harming colleagues or the organization, or see whistleblowing as a threat to their own or their family''s safety.
The project focuses on addressing the systemic reasons for not reporting misconduct, including Estonian legislation, which does not directly regulate whistleblowing but does so in a fragmented and limited way. Consequently, ordinary people lack legal clarity on whistleblowing, and court decisions primarily rely on European Court of Human Rights practice, which does not provide whistleblowers with a sense of security about the protection they are afforded.
To influence legislation to ensure legal clarity KVE convened a Legal Council on Whistleblower Protection of its members tasked with developing the KVE’s stance on the whistleblower protection law. Over the course of the project, the five-member expert group met eight times, resulting in an official opinion on the draft’s intention and on the draft itself. The Ministry of Justice submitted the draft to the government on December 2, 2021, with an expected approval date in the first half of 2022. Although there is a delay in implementing the directive, five out of the eleven comments submitted by KVE were partially or fully integrated into the draft. The draft text is of high quality, aligns with the EU directive, and follows international best practices. If enacted, whistleblowers in Estonia would receive protection through a broad and comprehensive law.
To raise awareness among the youth, Including Russian-speaking youth KVE created educational materials with value-based games for school classes. Several teachers contributed to these materials, which were published in both Estonian and Russian, available as printed copies and added to the e-schoolbag platform. KVE members introduced the materials in six guest lectures, reaching about 150 students.
A social media campaign featured an animation and two short videos to introduce the topic, with subtitles in Estonian, Russian, and English on YouTube and Facebook. The campaign reached a total of over 277,000 people through Facebook and Instagram. A short TV commercial based on the animation aired on TV3 and ETV channels, reaching 325,000 viewers. In addition, 62 social advertisements were placed on billboards over four weeks.
KVE organized a discussion at the Opinion Festival titled, “Why Are We So Sure That Young People Will Make Estonia More Honest When Statistics Don''t Show It?” in collaboration with the Estonian Youth Council, Estonian Cooperation Assembly, the Police and Border Guard Board, and Tallinn University of Technology. The brainstorming collected ideas for new interventions to boost youth civic engagement.
In autumn 2021, KVE conducted a unique survey among 15-19-year-olds to examine awareness, value systems, and behavioral patterns around whistleblowing. 200 young people participated, making it a unique study in Estonia. The results will inform the knowledge-based planning of KVE’s youth-focused activities.
To raising awareness among entrepreneurs, including Russian-speaking entrepreneurs KVE developed a whistleblowing toolbox for companies that is available on KVE’s website.
KVE created an e-training titled "Whistleblowing Measures: E-training for Practitioners," divided into four modules with 58 pages of reading materials, videos (lectures and interviews with companies) totaling 92 minutes, and 18 tests, forum assignments, and self-assessment questionnaires. All videos have Estonian and Russian subtitles. The first session on Moodle took place in October 2021 and received positive feedback from participants with overall course rating receiving 4.4/5. Five promotional videos were created for future e-training promotion.
Although the draft law was not passed by the end of the project, it is of more than satisfactory quality. At this stage, KVE anticipates that the whistleblower protection law will offer a protection mechanism in the future that is considerably broader and more understandable for individuals and organizations than the respective EU directive. The draft is clear, comprehensible, and largely reasonable.
However, certain aspects may still change during the parliamentary process, which is why the KVE’s legal council will continue its advocacy work to ensure the smooth passage of the law. These advocacy activities are now based on solid expertise developed through this project. By the end of the project, KVE has 12 whistleblowing experts. Thus, KVE’s internal capacity to act as an expert in both law and practice has increased.
The materials created for companies are reusable and will be updated with relevant recommendations and measures once the new law is enacted. The e-training is planned to be moved to a more user-friendly platform and will become increasingly relevant as the law is being implemented, especially in the early years.
For youth and the Russian-speaking population, informational materials have been created and will continue to be shared through social media, new projects, and school guest lectures. Networks and informational resources on the website have been established to raise awareness about whistleblowing among these target groups and the general public. The KVE 2021-2024 strategy highlights three priorities: informed youth, fair entrepreneurship, and effective whistleblower protection. This means that all activities initiated and developed in this project will continue for at least the next three years.
During the project, the need to establish a whistleblower information center was deemed high, funding for which has been secured. The center is expected to start operations as soon as the law is passed (anticipated in the first half of 2022). Thus, the organization’s work in educating the public and directly engaging with whistleblowers will continue beyond the end of the project.