The New EU Whistleblower Directive

On 23^rd of October 2019, the European Parliament and the European Council adopted the Directive (EU) 2019/1937 (hereinafter ''the Directive'') on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law¹. The deadline for the implementation of the Directive by the EU Member States into their national law is the 17th of December 2021.

The important feature of this Directive is to provide protection for the whistleblowers who report breach of the Union that are harmful to the public interest. The protective measures for the whistleblowers are acknowledged on a national as well as an International Level.

A breach means any unlawful act or a breach affecting the financial interest of a Union, or a breach relating to the internal market in relation to acts which breach the rules of corporate tax or to arrangements the purpose of which is to obtain a tax advantage that defeats the object or purpose of the applicable corporate tax law.