Estonia: European Commission demands big fines for late implementation of EU directives

The European Commission (EC) demands hundreds of thousands of euros in fines from Estonia for late implementation of two EU directives, ERR reports. Estonia has failed to transpose the so-called whistleblower directive into national law by December 2021. Also, the EC has initiated infringement procedures against Estonia over the European Competition Network (ECN+) directive, which would grant more power to the Estonian Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet). Evelin Pärn-Lee, director general of Konkurentsiamet, said that the development of the competition law has been hampered by business interests and lack of political will. Estonian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nele Grünberg said that Estonia would appeal the fines. However, she conceded that it was undisputed that Estonia was late in adopting the whistleblower directive.