Whistleblowers must be protected

Whistleblowing can save lives, the environment and money.

Whistleblowers often risk paying a high price for disclosing information. Yet whistleblowing can be essential in bringing to light activities contrary to public interest, illegal activities, corruption and threats to public health and safety.

Latest news and updates

Progress update: Are EU Governments taking whistleblowing protection seriously?

New civil society monitor on the EU Whistleblowing Directive

EU whistleblowing provisions need adjustments in member states

Who is a whistleblower?

A whistleblower could be a worker, self-employed, a shareholder, a volunteer, an unpaid trainee a contractor, subcontractor or supplier, a former worker, or even someone going for a job interview and coming across information about corruption.

Why are whistleblowers important?

Recent cases exposed by whistleblowers include illegal mass surveillance, industrial scale tax avoidance, abuse of environmental protections, and even the sexual abuse of children by peacekeepers. Such whistleblowing against large corporations and nation states is one of the most effective measures for combating wrongdoing that affects the whole of society.

Public tax money is lost

Due to corruption, the EU loses 120 billion euros each year, which could be saved by installing proper horizontal EU legislation on whistleblower protection.

Whistleblowers make our societies more transparent.

What's this whistle, and who's blowing it?

Cross-border workers face challenges

The transnational nature of work is growing and this presenting specific problems for workers who want to report wrongdoing, but cannot rely on a single minimum standard of whistleblower protection.

Investigative journalists always take a risk

Whether the threat of death, jail time, other forms of persecution or simple interference with their work, investigative journalists face exceptional obstacles in uncovering wrong-doing, speaking truth to power and holding the powerful to account.

Food safety concerns everyone

In an increasingly globalized world supply chains also cross borders. The UK horsemeat scandal of 2013 could have been detected sooner if whistleblowers had known where to report and what protection they could expect.

If we better protect whistleblowers, we can better detect and prevent harm to the public interest.

Vice-President Frans Timmermans, European Commission

No two whistleblower stories are the same

Tax fraud whistleblower Hervé Falciani

Earlier this year, French-Italian whistleblower Hervé Falciani was arrested in Spain. Falciani was one of the first to blow the whistle on global tax fraud in 2006 and 2007 when he worked at a Swiss spin-off of HSBC as a computer scientist.

MI5 whistleblower Annie Machon

MI5 whistleblower Annie Machon, who was forced to go on the run with her partner David Shayler in 1997 for revealing corruption in the British intelligence service, has spoken often of the emotional and psychological toll it can take.

Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet

The most well known duo who went public with information about the favourable tax deals given to multinational corporations by the Luxembourg government. However both have faced serious repercussions for their whistleblowing.

Participating organisations

Platform statement

Whistleblowers need EU protection – lives, environment and money at stake

Whistleblowers often risk ending up paying a high price for disclosing information. Yet whistleblowing can be essential in bringing to light – for example – illegal activities, corruption, activities which are contrary to public interest and threats to public health and safety. Whistleblowing can save lives, the environment and money.
It is high time for legislation on EU-wide whistleblower protection.
Whistleblower protection is in most cases a workers’ right issue. At the same time, not all whistleblowers are employees. Therefore, broad protection should be ensured covering also other than employees.

We call on the European Commission to urgently take action on bringing forward proposals on EU-wide legislation on whistleblower protection with a broad scope of groups and areas of activities protected.
We call on the European Council to support initiatives ensuring EU-wide whistleblower protection.
We call on the European Parliament to continue to call for EU-wide whistleblower protection and to support initiatives ensuring EU-wide whistleblower protection.