What to Expect from the Directive on the Protection of Whistle-blowers?

Abstract

Following several scandals, especially in the business sector, the European Union (EU) decided to adopt legislation on the protection of whistle-blowers. The Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law is an ambitious legal text complying with several international and European standards of whistle-blower protection. The fragmented legislative approaches of the EU member states will become more coherent as the Directive offers common minimum standards of protection. The Directive contains certain positive elements such as a clear definition for the whistle-blower or clear channels for disclosure. Nevertheless, the Directive does not address the issue of financial rewards and does not address clearly the issue of anonymity. The purpose of this contribution is to present the Directive and highlight its positive and negative elements. Due to the scarce legal literature upon this new EU legal act, this contribution is important and further research is needed. Whistle-blower, EU law, protection, culture, financial rewards, financial scandals, financial law, enforcement, channels for disclosure, ECHR