Whistleblowing employees given protection under draft EU law

Next week, the European Commission will propose legislation meant to protect whistleblowers – proponents of which argue it would have revealed the Volkswagen emissions scandal earlier.

The draft directive, seen by The Guardian, would give employees the right to legal aid and possible financial support and companies would be banned from firing or demoting them. Firms would be subject to “dissuasive” penalties for attempting to block employees seeking to reveal bad practices.

German Green MEP, Sven Giegold, who has been campaigning for a law to protect employees who speak out, said it was “a breakthrough for the protection of whistleblowers in Europe”.

However, he added: “ still needs some improvement in order to make sure that whistleblowers in the public interests are truly protected in all circumstances.”

The draft law will be revised in a process that usually takes between 18 and 24 months.

And although it would come into effect after Brexit, Mr Giegold thinks the UK will adopt similar rules.

“As this refers to single market legislation I am confident that the UK has a strong interest to have regulatory convergence and Europe has ,” he said.

“Even if Brexit actually comes – I guess there will be similar rules in the UK.”