On 23 April 2018, the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive on the protection of
whistleblowers reporting on breaches of EU law, accompanied by an
explanatory memorandum.
The Directive
The intention behind the proposal is to harmonise the minimum
level of protection available to whistleblowers across the EU. It
reflects the Commission's view that whistleblowers can play an
important role in exposing breaches of EU law, but they will often
resist coming forward for fear of the legal and financial
consequences which may occur. At present, legal protection for
whistleblowers is fragmented and, in the Commission's view,
insufficient. In its explanatory memorandum, the Commission talks
of 'missed opportunities' for preventing and detecting
breaches of EU law where certain Member States currently have a
lack of protection and argues that the harmonisation brought about
by the draft Directive will contribute toward improving the
business environment,
