The lack of effective whistleblower protection within the EU impairs the effective enforcement of EU law. While EU and national monitoring mechanisms and enforcement bodies are being reinforced through specific EU action (i.e. creation of EU agencies, support of national judicial systems, etc.), the effective detection, investigation and prosecution of breaches of EU law remains a challenge. In certain areas, breaches of EU law that can harm the public interest are difficult to unmask since evidence is difficult to collect. Reports by whistleblowers with insider access to such evidence can be crucial in those cases. Consequently, ensuring that whistleblowers feel safe to report breaches can feed enforcement action and enhance its effectiveness. In recent years, the EU legislator has acknowledged the need for whistleblower protection as a part of the enforcement of EU law and has introduced some elements of protection and reporting channels in a few sector-specific Union acts. However, protection is still very limited and sectorial and does not cover all the key areas where insufficient whistleblower protection leads to under-reporting of breaches of EU law that may result in serious harm to the public interest. Similarly, most Member States offer protection only in a piecemeal way and the level of protection varies. The lack of sufficient and consistent protection at EU and national level results in underreporting by whistleblowers which in turn translates into ‘missed opportunities’ in detecting and preventing breaches of EU law and weakens the effectiveness of its enforcement.

EU action to introduce whistleblower protection is needed in those areas where i) there is a need to strengthen enforcement, ii) underreporting by whistleblowers is a key factor affecting enforcement, and iii) breaches of EU law may cause serious harm to the public interest. Based on these criteria, whistleblower protection is needed to reinforce the enforcement of rules on: (i) public procurement; (ii) financial services, prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing; (iii) product safety; (iv) transport safety; (v) environmental protection; (vi) nuclear safety; (vii) food and feed safety, animal health and welfare; (viii) public health; (ix) consumer protection; (x) protection of privacy and personal data and security of network and information systems. It also applies to breaches relating to Union competition rules, breaches harming the EU’s financial interests and, in view of their negative impact on the proper functioning of the internal market, and to corporate tax avoidance. Providing insufficient protection for whistleblowers in a given Member State can have negative impacts not only on the functioning of EU policies in that Member State, but also spill-over impacts in other Member States and the EU as a whole. Unequal protection of whistleblowers across the EU undermines the level playing field needed for the single market to properly function and for business to operate in a healthy competitive environment. Notably corruption and fraud in public procurement that remain undetected increases costs for doing business, distorts competition and lowers attractiveness for investment. Undetected aggressive tax planning schemes by companies that manage to avoid paying their fair share of taxes distort the level playing field between and result in loss of tax revenue for individual Member States and for the EU as a whole (ex. “Luxleaks”). Further spill-over impacts are cross-border risks resulting from acts that distort competition, unsafe products, food and feed products, placed on the single market, pollution of the environment or risks for nuclear safety, public health, animal health and welfare, consumer protection, protection of privacy and personal data, security of network and information systems and transport safety in one Member State that spill-over to other Member States, and gaps in the protection of whistleblowers in cross-border situations, who risk ‘falling through the cracks’. Only EU action can address the imbalance in the level of protection, ensuring a consistent high level of protection across the EU, by providing minimum standards of harmonisation. Moreover, only EU action can align the existing rules on whistleblower protection in sector-specific Union acts.