European Commission: more protection for whistleblowers

The European Commission intends to grand more protection for Whistleblowers from retribution when they expose fraud, data breaches and other misdeeds, as Reuters reports. In order to reach this goal, the European Commission proposed new rules last Monday. However, also safeguards against malicious or abusive reports has been considered. The Vice President Francs Timmermans said, “There should be no punishment for doing the right thing”.

Before it can become law, the proposal has to be approved by the EU member states and the European Parliament. Such law would require companies to implement internal channels for whistleblowers while also protecting them from reprisals like sackings, demotion and litigation. Down to the present day, only 10 EU member states grant full protection to whistleblowers.