# National whistleblower authorities in the EU
> Reference pages on the national authorities that run each member state's external reporting channel: what they are competent for, how to report to them, and the statutory deadlines.

Source: https://ethicsportal.eu/authorities/
Updated: 2026-09-23

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Every member state had to designate a competent authority to receive reports through an external channel under [Directive (EU) 2019/1937](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019L1937). What those authorities can actually do differs sharply: some only forward reports, some investigate, some can fine an employer for having no internal reporting channel at all.

These pages cover one authority each — its legal basis, the limits of its competence, how a report reaches it, the deadlines it works to, and what happens after. They are reference pages built from the national statute and the authority's own published material, not summaries of vendor guidance.

For the underlying national transposition laws, see [whistleblower laws across the EU](/whistleblower-laws/).

## Pages in this section
- [France's whistleblower authority (Défenseur des droits): role, competence and how to report](https://ethicsportal.eu/authorities/france-defenseur-des-droits/): Reference on the Défenseur des droits under Loi Waserman: why France designated no single whistleblowing authority, what the institution can and cannot do, the schedule of competent external authorities, the statutory deadlines, and how a report reaches it.
- [ANAC as Italy's external reporting authority: when you may report, deadlines and fines](https://ethicsportal.eu/authorities/italy-anac/): Reference on ANAC under D.Lgs. 24/2023: the conditions that make external reporting available at all, the channel and platform, the acknowledgment and feedback deadlines, how a case ends, and the administrative fines the Authority can impose.
- [Germany's federal external reporting office (Bundesamt für Justiz): competence, deadlines and how to report](https://ethicsportal.eu/authorities/germany-bfj/): Reference on the externe Meldestelle des Bundes under the HinSchG: legal basis, how competence is split with BaFin, the Bundeskartellamt and the Länder offices, the reporting channels, the statutory deadlines, and what happens after a report.
- [Poland's Ombudsman as external reporting authority: what the RPO does, deadlines and penalties](https://ethicsportal.eu/authorities/poland-rpo/): Reference on the Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich under Poland's 2024 whistleblower act: how the role splits between the Ombudsman and the competent public authority, preliminary verification and referral, the acknowledgment and feedback deadlines, and the criminal penalties.
- [Romania's National Integrity Agency as external reporting authority: competence, deadlines and fines](https://ethicsportal.eu/authorities/romania-ani/): Reference on ANI under Law 361/2022: how competence is shared between the Agency and the other competent authorities, the external reporting procedure, the acknowledgment and feedback deadlines, and the administrative fines the Agency itself imposes.
- [Spain's whistleblower authority (AIPI): powers, competence and how to report](https://ethicsportal.eu/authorities/spain-aipi/): Reference on the Autoridad Independiente de Protección del Informante, A.A.I.: legal basis, how competence is split with the regional authorities, how to file a report through the external channel, the statutory deadlines, and what happens afterwards.