Negotiators from the EU Council and the European Parliament met on Tuesday 26 February to discuss the Whistleblowers Directive. However, no major progress was made regarding the two main political points of the legislative act, namely the legal basis and the prioritisation of reports.
The European Parliament wanted the legal basis to be extended to Article 153 TFEU to cover reports on working conditions, where the Council has significantly reduced the legal basis proposed by the European Commission from 17 to 13 articles, excluding in particular Article 207 TFEU regarding international trade in firearms. On this point, there was still no agreement.
Above all, no major progress has been made in respect of grading reports, since the European Parliament wanted the initial proposal to be made more flexible, while the Council wanted it to be kept as it was. The Council is divided into two main groups on the issue: a first group wanting a three-step reporting approach, including France and Germany, and a second group rather along the Parliament line, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, and Belgium (see EUROPE 12202). An internal battle is therefore likely to be waged to try to turn around the majority on the issue, particularly in respect of Spain, we are told, who could take on the role of “kingmaker”.
Progress on other points. On the other hand, co-legislators have made progress on the wording related to public disclosure. In this instance, an agreement is likely to be within reach at tomorrow's technical inter-institutional (trilogue) meeting. Progress has also been made on “minor breaches”, or exemptions when “national security” is involved. Here, the European Parliament wants to try to reduce the scope of the exemption in the recitals as much as possible. Finally, negotiators are still discussing the exemption threshold for the establishment of an internal reporting channel for SMEs and municipalities; the Council wants this threshold to be set at 50 employees, while Parliament wants it to be set at 250. Parliament wants to generalise as much as possible the option to turn to the competent external authorities.
The next trilogue will be held on Monday 4 March and could potentially be conclusive, although a meeting is already planned for 11 March. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)