15 Amendments of Roberts ZĪLE related to 2018/0106(COD)
Amendment 26 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Persons who work for an organisation or are in contact with it in the context of their work-related activities are often the first to know about threats or harm to the public interest which arise in this context. By ‘blowing the whistle’ they play a key role in exposing and preventing breaches of the law and in safeguarding the welfare of society. However, potential whistleblowers are often discouraged from reporting their concerns or suspicions for fear of retaliation or legal consequences.
Amendment 27 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) At Union level, reports by whistleblowers are one upstream component of enforcement of Union law: they feed national and Union enforcement systems with information often leading to effective detection, investigation and prosecution of breaches of Union law.
Amendment 29 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) In certain policy areas, breaches of Union law may cause serious harm to the public interest, in the sense of creating significant risks for the welfare of society. Where weaknesses of enforcement have been identified in those areas, and whistleblowers are in a privileged position to disclose such breaches, it is necessary to enhance enforcement by ensuring effective protection of whistleblowers from retaliation and introducing effective reporting channels.
Amendment 32 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Accordingly, common minimum standards ensuring effective whistleblower protection should only apply in those acts and, policy areas whereand Member States where there is evidence that i) there is a need to strengthen enforcement; ii) under-reporting by whistleblowers is a key factor affecting enforcement, and iii) breaches of Union law cause serious harm to the public interest.
Amendment 38 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) In the area of financial services, the added value of sectoral whistleblower protection was already acknowledged by the Union legislator. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, which exposed serious shortcomings in the enforcement of the relevant rules, measures for the protection of whistleblowers were introduced in a significant number of legislative instruments in this area34 . In particular, in the context of the prudential framework applicable to credit institutions and investment firms, Directive 2013/36/EU35 provides for protection of whistleblowers, which extends also to Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms. _________________ 34 Communication of 8.12.2010 "Reinforcing sanctioning regimes in the financial services sector". 35 Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338).
Amendment 44 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) In the same vein, whistleblowers’ reports can be key to detecting and preventing, reducing or eliminating risks to public health and to consumer protection resulting from breaches of Union rules which might otherwise remain hidden. In particular, consumer protection is also strongly linked to cases where unsafe products can cause considerable harm to consumers. Whistleblower protection shouldmay therefore be introduced by Member States in relation to relevant Union rules adopted pursuant to Articles 114, 168 and 169 TFEU.
Amendment 46 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The protection of privacy and personal data is another area where whistleblowers are in a privileged position to disclose breaches of Union law which can seriously harm the public interest. Similar considerations apply for breaches of the Directive on the security of network and information systems45 , which introduces notification of incidents (including those that do not compromise personal data) and security requirements for entities providing essential services across many sectors (e.g. energy, health, transport, banking, etc.) and providers of key digital services (e.g. cloud computing services). Whistleblowers' reporting in this area is particularly valuable in order to prevent security incidents that would affect key economic and social activities and widely used digital services. It helps ensuring the continuity of services which are essential for the functioning of the internal market and the wellbeing of society. _________________ 45 Directive (EU) 2016/1148 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2016 concerning measures for a high common level of security of network and information systems across the Union.
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Acts which breach the rules of corporate tax and arrangementsggressive tax planning whose purpose is to obtain a tax advantage and to evade legal obligations, defeating the object or purpose of the applicable corporate tax law, negatively affect the proper functioning of the internal market. They can give rise to unfair tax competition and extensive tax evasion, distorting the level-playing field for companies and resulting in loss of tax revenues for Member States and for the Union budget as a whole. Whistleblower protection adds to recent Commission initiatives aimed at improving transparency and the exchange of information in the field of taxation47 and creating a fairer corporate tax environment within the Union48 , with a view to increasing Member States’ effectiveness in identifying evasive and/or abusive arrangements that could otherwise go undetected and will help deter such arrangements. _________________ 47 Council Directive 2011/16/EU of 15 February 2011 on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and repealing Directive 77/799/EEC (as amended). 48 Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 of 12 July 2016 laying down rules against tax avoidance practices that directly affect the functioning of the internal market (as amended); Proposal for a Council Directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base, COM/2016/0683 final — 2016/0336; Proposal for a Council Directive on a Common Corporate Tax Base, COM/2016/0685 final — 2016/0337.
Amendment 56 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) This Directive should be without prejudice to the protection of national security and other classified information which Union law or the laws, regulations or administrative provisions in force in the Member State concerned require, for security reasons, to be protected from unauthorised access. In particular, Moreover, the provision of this Directive should not affect the obligations arising from Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 of 13 March 2015 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information or Council Decision of 23 September 2013 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information.
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) PMember States may decide that protection should also extend to further categories of natural or legal persons, who, whilst not being 'workers' within the meaning of Article 45 TFEU, can play a key role in exposing breaches of the law and may find themselves in a position of economic vulnerability in the context of their work-related activities. For instance, in areas such as product safety, suppliers are much closer to the source of possible unfair and illicit manufacturing, import or distribution practices of unsafe products; in the implementation of Union funds, consultants providing their services are in a privileged position to draw attention to breaches they witness. Such categories of persons, including self- employed persons providing services, freelance, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers, are typically subject to retaliation in the form of early termination or cancellation of contract of services, licence or permit, loss of business, loss of income, coercion, intimidation or harassment, blacklisting/business boycotting or damage to their reputation. Shareholders and persons in managerial bodies, may also suffer retaliation, for instance in financial terms or in the form of intimidation or harassment, blacklisting or damage to their reputation. Protection should also be granted to candidates for employment or for providing services to an organisation who acquired the information on breaches of law during the recruitment process or other pre-contractual negotiation stage, and may suffer retaliation for instance in the form of negative employment references or blacklisting/business boycotting.
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Effective whistleblower protection implies protecting also further categories of persons who, whilst not relying on their work-related activities economically, may nevertheless suffer retaliation for exposing breaches. Retaliation against volunteers and unpaid trainees may take the form of no longer making use of their services, or of giving a negative reference for future employment or otherwise damaging their reputation or career prospects.
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 37
Recital 37
(37) For the effective detection and prevention of breaches of Union law it is vital that the relevant information reaches swiftly those closest to the source of the problem, most able to investigate and with powers to remedy it, where possible. This requires that legal entities in the private and the public sector establish appropriate internal procedures for receiving, analysing and following-up on reports.
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 39
Recital 39
(39) The exemption of small and micro undertakings from the obligation to establish internal reporting channels should not apply to private undertakings active in or closely linked to the area of financial services. Such undertakings should remain obliged to establish internal reporting channels, in line with the current obligations set forth in the Union acquis on financial services.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 62
Recital 62
(62) As a rule, rReporting persons should first use the internal channels at their disposal and report to their employer. However, it may be the case that internal channels do not exist (in case of entities which are not under an obligation to establish such channels by virtue of this Directive or applicable national law) or that their use is not mandatory (which may be the case for persons who are not in an employment relationship), or that they were used but did not function properly (for instance the report was not dealt with diligently or within a reasonable timeframe, or no action was taken to address the breach of law despite the positive results of the enquiry).
Amendment 103 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. WIn cases where Member States do not already have sufficient protection in place and with a view to enhancing the enforcement of Union law and policies in specific areas, this Directive lays down common minimum standards for the protection of persons reporting on the following unlawful activities or abuse of law which Member States may adopt: