Over a quarter of a million signatories support better whistleblower protection

The European Parliament’s position gives whistleblowers greater flexibility in reporting criminal acts, corruption and wrongdoing. 

The petitions will be handed over to MEP Virginie Rozière, rapporteur of the European Parliament, who is also representing the Parliament in the trilogue negotiations. 

The parliament’s position gives whistleblowers greater flexibility in reporting criminal acts, corruption and wrongdoing. 

At present, the Parliament’s position on reporting channels is facing strong opposition from both the Council and the Commission. According to Martin Jefflén, President of Eurocadres and founder of WhistleblowerProtection.EU, ‘the European public expects a better directive than what the Commission and Council wants. The right to protection also when reporting to a manager or to law enforcement must be guaranteed’.  

It has been quite disconcerting for us to see Commission and Council still maintaining the mandatory internal reporting provision.

Veronika Nad, Country Manager of Germany for Blueprint for Free Speech, who will participate in the handover of the Voices of Justice petition and also representing coalition partners Riparte il futuro and FIBGAR, believes: ‘This is a one-time opportunity for Europe to establish good minimum standard in protecting whistleblowers. Approving a Directive providing for mandatory internal reporting would weaken the rule of law in a time when Europe most needs it. This is why a “poor” directive would be rather unsettling. We have worked so much to reach this point that it has been quite disconcerting for us to see Commission and Council still maintaining the mandatory internal reporting provision. It simply makes no sense.’