EU Whistle-Blower Directive: Taking Taxpayers’ Rights Seriously The title of this article is inspired by the title of Ronald Dworkin’s book Taking Rights Seriously (1st edn. Harvard University Press 1977).

Abstract

On 23 October 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Whistle-blower Directive. This article raises a fundamental question: does the Whistle-blower Directive respect taxpayers’ rights? In order to answer this question, the article first deals with two other preliminary issues. Firstly, it is asked whether the European Union has the competence to introduce whistle-blower protection, especially with regard to tax matters. Secondly, the article expounds on the impact of the Whistle-blower Directive on tax matters.