No blocking minorities emerged during the ministerial discussions at the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) on the issue of a relaxation of the margin for internal reporting of wrongdoing, as part of the Whistleblower Directive, on Friday 8 March.
On Wednesday, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU had proposed the possibility of a relaxation between internal reporting (within an organisation) and external reporting to a competent authority to national delegations, but with strong recommendations for the potential whistleblower to firstly turn to the internal reporting channel (see EUROPE 12208/1).
"We consider it necessary to keep all three channels. However if the whistleblower decides, based on reasonable belief, that the internal channel will not work, they can go to the external channel", explained the Commissioner for Justice, Věra Jourová, at a press conference, responding to EUROPE.
For the Commissioner, the whistleblower must not lose the protection of the Directive if they first sound the alarm outside their own organisation. "I don't like to create such legal uncertainty", she added, expressing her preference for the internal channel, as it allows for "self-correcting" by the organizations themselves.
Several Member States expressed their position during a short ministerial round table following the progress report on the interinstitutional negotiations made by the Romanian Presidency. Most of these countries - such as Ireland, Spain and, rather unexpectedly, Italy - expressed their support for the Presidency's position or even for the freedom of choice between the two channels.
Only France and Hungary seemed to have assumed a more ambiguous position. Paris said it wanted "maximum" but "proportionate" protection for the whistleblower, while Hungary reserved the right to establish a position once a global political agreement had been reached.
Thus, the blocking minority, which had once been created around France, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy (see EUROPE 12204/8), is no longer in place, as the last three Member States have softened their position.
In general, most of the delegations that took the floor were against extending Article 153 TFEU (dedicated to the protection of workers) from the scope of the application of the Directive for reasons of legal clarity. In addition, these countries wished to limit the scope of protection to individuals assisting the whistleblower (facilitators).
It is now up to the Romanian Presidency, on the basis of these political guidelines, to continue negotiations with the European Parliament on Monday 11 March. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)