OSCE Media Freedom Representative and UN Special Rapporteur welcome EU initiative to protect whistleblowers, but raise some concerns about draft directive
VIENNA, 5 March 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, together with the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, today welcomed in a letter sent to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union the initiative of a new directive on protection of whistleblowers, but also expressed a number of potential concerns about the current draft text.
The Representative and the UN Special Rapporteur strongly support the recognition that whistleblowers “play a key role in exposing and preventing breaches of the law harmful to the public interest and in safeguarding the welfare of society.” Moreover, they note that the proposed Directive recognizes that “potential whistleblowers are often discouraged from reporting their concerns or suspicions for fear of retaliation.”
They also commend the intention to legislate whistleblower protection and support several elements of the proposed Directive and applaud the Commission’s work in these areas.
However, the Representative and the UN Special Rapporteur identified a number of concerns in areas that could undermine the purpose of the initiative. In particular, they noted problems regarding the EU’s preference for internal reporting of breaches, categories of prohibited disclosures under national security and the standards for protection of whistleblowers.
The Representative and the UN Special Rapporteur recall that whistleblowers protection rests upon a core right to freedom of expression, guaranteed under international law, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which all EU Member States are bound.
Find the letter here