Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law

Rec. 1

Persons who work for a public or private organisation or are in...

Rec. 2

At Union level, reports and public disclosures by whistleblowers are...

Rec. 3

In certain policy areas, breaches of Union law, regardless of whether...

Rec. 4

Whistleblower protection currently provided in the Union is...

Rec. 5

Common minimum standards ensuring that whistleblowers are protected...

Rec. 6

Whistleblower protection is necessary to enhance the enforcement of...

Rec. 7

In the area of financial services, the added value of whistleblower...

Rec. 8

As regards the safety of products placed on the internal market,...

Rec. 9

The importance of whistleblower protection in terms of preventing and...

Rec. 10

As regards the area of protection of the environment,...

Rec. 11

Enhancing whistleblower protection would also contribute to...

Rec. 12

The introduction of a whistleblower protection framework would also...

Rec. 13

The reporting of breaches by whistleblowers can be key to detecting...

Rec. 14

Respect for privacy and protection of personal data, which are...

Rec. 15

Furthermore, the protection of the financial interests of the Union,...

Rec. 16

Common minimum standards for the protection of whistleblowers should...

Rec. 17

Specifically, the protection of whistleblowers to enhance the...

Rec. 18

Breaches of corporate tax law and arrangements of which the purpose...

Rec. 19

Point (a) of Article 2(1) defines the material scope of this...

Rec. 20

Certain Union acts, in particular in the area of financial services,...

Rec. 21

This Directive should be without prejudice to the protection granted...

Rec. 22

Member States could decide to provide that reports concerning...

Rec. 23

This Directive should be without prejudice to the protection granted...

Rec. 24

National security remains the sole responsibility of each Member...

Rec. 25

This Directive should also be without prejudice to the protection of...

Rec. 26

This Directive should not affect the protection of confidentiality of...

Rec. 27

Members of professions other than lawyers and health care providers...

Rec. 28

While this Directive should provide, under certain conditions, for a...

Rec. 29

This Directive should not affect national rules on the exercise of...

Rec. 30

This Directive should not apply to cases in which persons who, having...

Rec. 31

Persons who report information about threats or harm to the public...

Rec. 32

To enjoy protection under this Directive, reporting persons should...

Rec. 33

Reporting persons normally feel more at ease reporting internally,...

Rec. 34

Without prejudice to existing obligations to provide for anonymous...

Rec. 35

This Directive should provide for protection to be granted in cases...

Rec. 36

Persons need specific legal protection where they acquire the...

Rec. 37

Effective enforcement of Union law requires that protection should be...

Rec. 38

Protection should, firstly, apply to persons having the status of...

Rec. 39

Protection should also extend to categories of natural persons, who,...

Rec. 40

Effective whistleblower protection implies protecting also categories...

Rec. 41

Protection should be provided against retaliatory measures taken not...

Rec. 42

Effective detection and prevention of serious harm to the public...

Rec. 43

Effective prevention of breaches of Union law requires that...

Rec. 44

There should be a close link between reporting and the adverse...

Rec. 45

Protection against retaliation as a means of safeguarding freedom of...

Rec. 46

Whistleblowers are, in particular, important sources for...

Rec. 47

For the effective detection and prevention of breaches of Union law,...

Rec. 48

For legal entities in the private sector, the obligation to establish...

Rec. 49

This Directive should be without prejudice to Member States being...

Rec. 50

The exemption of small and micro enterprises from the obligation to...

Rec. 51

It should be clear that, in the case of legal entities in the private...

Rec. 52

In order to ensure, in particular, that the public procurement rules...

Rec. 53

Provided the confidentiality of the identity of the reporting person...

Rec. 54

Third parties could also be authorised to receive reports of breaches...

Rec. 55

Internal reporting procedures should enable legal entities in the...

Rec. 56

The choice of the most appropriate persons or departments within a...

Rec. 57

In the context of internal reporting, informing, as far as legally...

Rec. 58

A reasonable timeframe for informing a reporting person should not...

Rec. 59

Persons who are considering reporting breaches of Union law should be...

Rec. 60

Effective detection and prevention of breaches of Union law require...

Rec. 61

It may be the case that internal channels do not exist or that they...

Rec. 62

In other cases, the use of internal channels cannot reasonably be...

Rec. 63

Lack of confidence in the effectiveness of reporting is one of the...

Rec. 64

It should be for the Member States to designate the authorities...

Rec. 65

As recipients of reports, the authorities designated as competent...

Rec. 66

Competent authorities should also give feedback to the reporting...

Rec. 67

Follow-up and feedback should take place within a reasonable...

Rec. 68

Union law in specific areas, such as market abuse, namely Regulation...

Rec. 69

The Commission, as well as some bodies, offices and agencies of the...

Rec. 70

To ensure the effectiveness of the procedures for following up on...

Rec. 71

Where provided for under Union or national law, the competent...

Rec. 72

In many policy areas falling within the material scope of this...

Rec. 73

In order to enable effective communication with staff members who are...

Rec. 74

Staff members of the competent authorities who are responsible for...

Rec. 75

Persons intending to report should be able to make an informed...

Rec. 76

Member States should ensure that competent authorities have in place...

Rec. 77

It is necessary that staff members of the competent authority who are...

Rec. 78

The regular review of the procedures of competent authorities and the...

Rec. 79

Persons making a public disclosure should qualify for protection in...

Rec. 80

Persons making a public disclosure directly should also qualify for...

Rec. 81

Persons making a public disclosure directly should also qualify for...

Rec. 82

Safeguarding the confidentiality of the identity of the reporting...

Rec. 83

Any processing of personal data carried out pursuant to this...

Rec. 84

The procedures provided for in this Directive and related to...

Rec. 85

The effective protection of the confidentiality of the identity of...

Rec. 86

Member States should ensure that there is adequate record-keeping as...

Rec. 87

Reporting persons should be protected against any form of...

Rec. 88

Where retaliation occurs undeterred and unpunished, it has a chilling...

Rec. 89

Potential whistleblowers who are not sure about how to report or...

Rec. 90

Competent authorities should provide reporting persons with the...

Rec. 91

It should not be possible to rely on individuals' legal or...

Rec. 92

Where reporting persons lawfully acquire or obtain access to the...

Rec. 93

Retaliation is likely to be presented as being justified on grounds...

Rec. 94

Beyond an explicit prohibition of retaliation provided in law, it is...

Rec. 95

While the types of legal action may vary between legal systems, they...

Rec. 96

Of particular importance for reporting persons are interim remedies...

Rec. 97

Action taken against reporting persons outside the work-related...

Rec. 98

Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council...

Rec. 99

A significant cost for reporting persons contesting retaliation...

Rec. 100

The rights of the person concerned should be protected in order to...

Rec. 101

Any person who suffers prejudice, whether directly or indirectly, as...

Rec. 102

Criminal, civil or administrative penalties are necessary to ensure...

Rec. 103

Any decision taken by authorities adversely affecting the rights...

Rec. 104

This Directive introduces minimum standards and it should be possible...

Rec. 105

In accordance with Article 26(2) TFEU, the internal market needs to...

Rec. 106

The material scope of this Directive is based on the identification...

Rec. 107

Where future legislative acts relevant to the policy areas covered by...

Rec. 108

Since the objective of this Directive, namely to strengthen...

Rec. 109

This Directive respects fundamental rights and the principles...

Rec. 110

The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance...