A few days before the European Commission is due to present an initiative to protect whistleblowers (see EUROPE 11991), Eurocadres, the trade union representing European professionals and managers, has, in a report published on Monday 9 April, set out its analysis of the situation in Europe and provided its recommendations for protective legislation.
The aim is to highlight, once again, the organisation’s most important arguments. It discusses definitions of whistleblower, the concept of wrongdoing, “good faith”, and also scope, protection against reprisals and the burden of proof.
Eurocadres wants to cover the private and public sectors without regard to the contractual relations between the whistleblower and the entity for which he/she works, in line with the Council of Europe’s 2014 recommendations (CM/Rec(2014)7).
With regard to definition of “wrongdoing”, which caused a politico-linguistic tangle when it came to a vote on the directive on trade secrets (see EUROPE 11558), Eurocadres believes it necessary to go further than the Council of Europe. In its recommendations, it calls for any breach of the law or human rights, and any endangering of public health, public safety or the environment to be considered as wrongdoing. It argues that the definition must be widened so that it covers cases of maladministration and mismanagement that have serious consequences for wider society.
A further matter of importance for Eurocadres is “good faith”. This is attested immediately if a person has reasonable grounds for believing that the information disclosed is true, it argues. It believes that a reward system for whistleblowers is not desirable as it could discredit the very action taken by the whistleblower.
The notion of “public interest” is “problematic” for Eurocadres which argues that public interest will be satisfied and protected if a whistleblower discloses wrongdoing (which has taken place or which is likely to take place) to an “appropriate recipient” (someone identified within the organisation, a regulator, the police, an MP or a journalist).
In addition, the forthcoming directive should, Eurocadres says, require companies (with perhaps at least 20 or 50 employees) to put in place internal channels for reporting wrongdoing, in partnership with trade unions. It also stresses the need to provide protection for whistleblowers against any form of retaliation and against any shift in the burden of proof.
A number of these proposals are contained in the own initiative report by Virginie Rozière (S&D, France) calling for across the board protection for whistleblowers (see EUROPE 11890). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)