An agreement on whistleblowing has been reached between the European Parliament and member states.
The EP said in a statement on Tuesday that with legal guarantees, people reporting illegal practices in good faith would be safe in the knowledge they would not be punished.
EPP group spokesman Geoffroy Didier MEP said a good deal was reached for both whistleblowers and companies.
While the former would be free to speak up if they knew about a malpractice affecting the public interest such as corruption in public procurement, a threat to public health or a tax fraud, the latter would not lose their good names due to false accusations.
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The new legislation ensured whistleblowers would benefit from protection and guaranteed follow-up of their reports. At the same time, the rules defined penalties for false or malicious reporting to damage someone’s reputation or as a means of business competition.
Mr Didier explained: “We encourage whistleblowers to report internally as, according to empirical studies, more than 90% of whistleblowers feel more at ease reporting within the organisation where they work.
"However, they are free to go directly to the public authorities (external channel) if they consider this to be necessary. Internal and external channels are the best ways to relay the information on infringement to those concerned who can contribute to the early and effective resolution of any damage to the public interest.”
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The directive will apply to national and local public administrations in cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants and all companies with more than 50 employees.
The EPP Group had small and medium-sized enterprises in mind when discussing the new rules. Given their limited sources compared to big enterprises, they would be granted an additional two years to comply with the new reporting standards.
To decrease administrative costs, the MEPs also proposed a single reporting platform that all SMEs with less than 250 employees would be able to use instead of setting their own reporting channels”, concluded Didier.