The European Commission has published a new draft directive to strengthen whistleblower protection across the EU. The proposal is to provide EU-wide protection for blowing the whistle on breaches of specified types of EU legislation (for example, legislation on financial services, public health and safety, data protection and competition rules), although Member States are encouraged to go beyond this minimum standard and establish comprehensive frameworks for whistleblower protection.
All companies with more than 50 employees or with an annual turnover of over €10 million will have to set up an internal procedure to handle whistleblowers' reports, including from non-employees such as NEDs, shareholders, the self-employed and volunteers.
The proposal will need agreement from both the European Parliament and the Council; in the meantime, the Commission has invited feedback on the proposal via its Have Your Say website.
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