The European Union (EU) should have bloc-wide rules to protect whistleblowers, including protections against being dismissed or detained for uncovering illegal activities, the European Commission proposed on Monday.
The proposal, which has yet to be approved by member states and EU lawmakers, comes in response to recent scandals where whistleblowers released sensitive information.
It added that the information included the Panama Papers and the LuxLeaks scandal, both of which detailed tax evasion practices, and the recent revelations about Facebook data breaches.
“Many recent scandals may never have come to light if insiders hadn’t had the courage to speak out; but those who did, took enormous risks,’’ European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said.
The commission’s proposal would ensure EU-wide protection for whistleblowers over breaches of EU law, such as rules over public procurement, money laundering, transport and product safety, public health and data protection.
The protection mechanisms would include setting up confidential and clear reporting channels – an obligation for companies and authorities to respond to reports within a set time frame.
It would also include the prevention of retaliation against whistleblowers.
The new laws would cover every company with no less than 50 employees or whose annual turnover is more than 10 million Euros (12.2 million dollars).
It would also cover all EU municipalities and regional administrations with a population of no fewer than 10,000 people.
The commission urged EU countries to approve the recommendations and even go beyond them on a national level, as only 10 of the EU’s 28 member states currently provide full protection to whistleblowers.
