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European Commission proposes new law to protect whistleblowers

European Commission first vice-president Frans Timmermans & EU Justic Commissioner V?ra Jourov? at the press conference
European Commission first vice-president Frans Timmermans & EU Justic Commissioner V?ra Jourov? at the press conference
BRUSSELS, April 23 (KUNA) -- The European Commission proposed Monday new legislation to guarantee a high level of protection for whistleblowers who report breaches of European Union (EU) law Presenting the proposal at a news conference, the EU legislative body's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said that, "many recent scandals may never have come to light if insiders hadn't had the courage to speak out,but those who did took enormous risks." So if we better protect whistleblowers, we can better detect and prevent harm to the public interest such as fraud and corruption." He was referring to scandals such as Dieselgate, Luxleaks, the Panama Papers and the ongoing Cambridge Analytica.
"Today's proposals also protect those who act as sources for investigative journalists, helping to ensure that freedom of expression and freedom of the media are defended in Europe," Timmermans said.
On her part, Vera Jourova, EU Commissioner for Justice, told the joint press conference that the new whistleblowers' protection rules will be a "game changer." "In the globalized world where the temptation to maximise profit sometimes at the expense of the law is real, we need to support people who are ready to take the risk to uncover serious violations of EU law," she noted.
Jourova went on to say that "citizens who uncover illegal activities should not be punished as a consequence of their action, but in reality, many of them pay for their action with their jobs, their reputation or even their health," she said.
Under the proposed law, all companies with more than 50 employees or with an annual turnover of over 10 million euro (USD 12 million) will have to set up an internal procedure to handle whistleblowers' reports. All state, regional administrations and municipalities with over 10,000 inhabitants will also be covered by the new law. (end) nk.nam