Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

EU Whistleblower Protection Directive: Europe on Whistleblowing

  • Article
  • Published:
ERA Forum Aims and scope

Abstract

The EU Whistleblower Protection Directive is a new legal framework aimed at providing a comprehensive approach to whistleblower protection in the European Union. The Whistleblower Protection Directive aims at protecting and encouraging whistleblowers throughout the EU who report on a range of misconduct that they become aware of through their workplace. The Whistleblower Protection Directive places specific requirements on the nature of whistleblowing channels to be provided. It details requirements regarding confidentiality of the identity of whistleblowers, response times, contact persons, follow-up, communication, GDPR compliance and record keeping. This article takes a deeper look at the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Directive 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law [2019] OJ L 305.

  2. Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (European Commission): Inception impact assessment on Horizontal or further sectorial EU action on whistleblower protection. Published: 26.01.2017.

  3. European Commission, EU Anti-Corruption Report. Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament 3.2.2014 COM(2014) 38 final.

  4. Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (European Commission), Milieu Ltd: Estimating the economic benefits of whistleblower protection in public procurement. P 15. Published: 06.09.2017.

  5. ACFE Report to the Nations 2020.

  6. PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2020.

  7. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 1.

  8. ‘Mapping the EU on Legal Whistleblower Protection, Transparency International’, April 2019.

  9. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Lux Leaks.

  10. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 1.

  11. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 2.

  12. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 43 and Art. 5.

  13. An example is Council Directive 89/391/EEC [1989] on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work, OJ L 183.

  14. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 2(2).

  15. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 4.

  16. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 37.

  17. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art.6.

  18. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 47.

  19. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 15.

  20. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 11.

  21. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 9.

  22. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 11.

  23. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 82.

  24. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 53.

  25. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 9.

  26. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 12.

  27. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 16.

  28. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 23.

  29. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).

  30. Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA.

  31. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 17.

  32. Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Art. 14.

  33. Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Art. 14, (5)(b) and (5)(c).

  34. European Data Protection Supervisor, Guidelines on processing personal information within a whistleblowing procedure, Par 6.2. December 2019.

  35. Landesarbeitsgericht Baden-Württemberg, decision of 20.12.2018 (Az.: 17 Sa 11/18).

  36. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 84 and 85.

  37. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 82.

  38. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 6(2).

  39. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 15.

  40. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 19.

  41. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 41.

  42. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Art. 23.

  43. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 93.

  44. Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Rec. 54.

  45. ‘Factsheet on Whistleblower protection’, European Commission, April 2018.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. WhistleB, a NAVEX Global company, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Jan Tadeusz Stappers

Authors
  1. Jan Tadeusz Stappers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Tadeusz Stappers.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Stappers, J.T. EU Whistleblower Protection Directive: Europe on Whistleblowing. ERA Forum 22, 87–100 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-021-00649-7

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-021-00649-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation