On Friday 3 March, the European Commission announced the launch of its public consultation, presented several months ago, on protecting whistleblowers.
It is seeking the opinions of stakeholders on the likely benefits of this kind of protection (strengthening the freedom of expression? Strengthening respect by the public authorities and corporations of the law?), In what areas should this protection be made possible (fraud and corruption, food safety etc.), what are the potential downsides (encouraging false disclosures, undermining confidence within a company, etc.). It is also asking what provisions should be contained in the proposal (a clear definition in the text of the threats to the public interest covered by protection of whistleblowers, etc.), What kind of protection are we talking about (in cases involving disclosures to the public at large, protection against reprisals at work?, appropriate investigations into allegations made by whistleblowers, financial assistance?)?
Commissioner Jourova stated, “We must carefully weigh the way in which to move forward and assess on what level we should be taking action to better protect them”. Virginie Rozière MEP (S&D, France) is due to help draft the European Parliament’s own initiative report and she welcomed the public consultation and said that she hoped that it would ultimately produce a legislative proposal in this regard. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)