01/03/2019 (Agence Europe) – The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) warned the co-legislators (European Parliament and Council of the EU) on Friday, 1 March about the “risk of ending up with a directive [on whistleblowers] that protects companies more than it protects whistleblowers”. Trade unions fear that a "group of member states" will stand by its position to force potential whistleblowers to use the organisation's internal channels in the first place. "It is one thing for the EU to encourage companies to set up an internal procedure to help workers and others to be able to blow the whistle, but it is a very bad idea for the EU to force potential whistleblowers to use it or risk losing their job", says the ETUC. According to European Parliament rapporteur Virginie Rozière (S&D, France), France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria want to maintain a three-step alert (internal, external, public - see EUROPE 12204). (PH)