Brussels, 01/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - European Parliament rapporteur on the trade secrets directive Constance Le Grip (EPP, France) and four shadow rapporteurs (Jean-Marie Cavada, Sergio Cofferati, Laura Ferrara and Julia Reda) expressed their deep concern on Friday 1 July that mention had been made of this directive by the Luxembourg court in its ruling on the LuxLeaks case.
They cite two reasons for their concern. Firstly, the MEPs are unhappy that the court gave the wrong translation of “wrongdoing”, as Reda (Greens/EFA, Germany) noted on the day after the verdict was delivered (see EUROPE 115845 and 11583). In the section devoted to the total lack of protection for whistleblowers at European level, the court said that the proposed directive will guarantee protection in the event of revelation of a “faute professionnelle” when, in fact, the term “acte répréhensible” had been adopted following lengthy inter-institutional debate (see EUROPE 11558 and 11555).
Secondly, the MEPs question whether a court can cite the directive when is has not come into effect, ignoring the principle of the non-retroactive nature of law.
“For all these reasons, we consider that, in this case, the intention of the legislators has been misinterpreted in the ruling”, state the signatories of the joint statement. They highlight plans within the Parliament, launched on the initiative of the Greens/EFA Group (see EUROPE 11557) to prepare a draft directive that would give explicit protection to whistleblowers. The idea would be to make Article 5 of the trade secrets directive, which has been the source of many controversies, more precise and more robust. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)