The week in corruption, 15 March 2019

A historic victory for whistleblowers

History was made in the EU this week when the European Parliament and EU Council agreed a ground-breaking piece of legislation that will help protect whistleblowers around Europe.

This political agreement means that the EU will have dedicated legislation in this area for the first time.

One of the most crucial issues in the negotiations concerned whether whistleblowers would be able to report wrongdoing directly to the relevant authorities. This was a big issue for us, as we’ve highlighted in previous newsletters.

We want to thank everyone who signed the petition (more than 100,000 in total!), sent letters and used social media to show lawmakers just how important this provision is.

As a result, the proposed legislation will give much greater protection to individuals who come forward when they encounter corruption or other illegal activity in the workplace. It will also provide all employers in Europe with greater legal certainty around their rights and obligations.

That means that people like Howard Wilkinson, the Danske Bank whistleblower, and Anna Garrido Ramos, who revealed the corruption in Spanish politics known as the Gürtel scandal, will be protected from unjust retaliation. And future whistleblowers will not have to defend their actions in long legal battles like the one Antoine Deltour faced following his“LuxLeaks” revelations.

We want all whistleblowers worldwide to get the kind of protection that this EU legislation will provide. This year we’re pressuring every G20 country to adopt rigorous whistleblower legislation.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this historic achievement.