37 Amendments of Robert ROCHEFORT related to 2016/2224(INI)
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas under Article 67(2) TFEU the European Union is competent to deal with matters relating to the European common asylum policy;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas whistleblowers play an important role in reporting unlawful or improper conduct which undermines the public interest; whereas whistleblowers are persons who draw the attention of their employers, public and private administrative authorities, judicial authorities and third parties to such unlawful or improper conduct which they have discovered in the performance of their duties and which they have an obligation to disclose on the grounds that the conduct in question is prejudicial to the public interest;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas a number of publicised whistleblowing cases have shown that whistleblowing brings serious wrongdoing in the private and public sectors to the attention of the public and of political authorities; whereas suchome of these wrongdoings have therefore been subject to corrective measures;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas corruption is one of the mosta serious problems facing around the world today, as it can hamper a state’s ability to deliver inclusive economic growth in various fields;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas whistleblowing has proved useful in a number of areas, such as public health, taxation, the environment, consumer protection, and combating corruption and upholding social rightsbreaches of labour law;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas investigative journalism and the independent press remain vulnerable in the context of the disclosure of sensitive information, and whereas members of these professions must enjoy the same protection as the whistleblowers they protect in the name of the confidentiality of their sources;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls for action to change the public perception of whistle-blowers by highlighting their positive role as an early warning mechanism to prevent abuses and corruption and to enable public scrutiny of state actionbring to light wrongdoing by companies or governments;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the protection of whistleblowers is not guaranteed in a number of Member Statesa number of Member States do not have laws which offer whistleblowers appropriate protection, while many others have introduced advanced programmes to protect them; whereas the result of that is fragmented protection of whistleblowers in Europe, which makes it difficult for them to find out their rights and how to whistleblow, and creates legal insecurity in cross-border scenarios;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for measures to protect workers who detect and report wrongdoings in the field of unemployment;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the Commission has not proposed suitable legislative measures to protect whistleblowers in the EU effectively, in particular in cases involving a Member State;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas any third-country national recognised as a whistleblower by the European Union or one of its Member States must be entitled to all the relevant protection measures if, whether in the course of his or her duties or otherwise, he or she has come into the possession of and disclosed information about illegal conduct or acts of espionage, committed either by a third country or by a domestic or multinational company, which are prejudicial to a State, a nation or Union citizens and jeopardise, without their knowledge, the integrity of a government, national security or collective or individual freedoms;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points to the dangers of excluding whistle-blowing workers from career progression and of retaliation by colleagues at their workplace, in addition to that of losing their jobs, and the dampening effect this has on those who may come across wrongdoing;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission, after assessing the options available, to present a horizontal legislative proposal, which should ideally be horizontal, with a view to effectively protecting whistleblowers in the EU before the end of this yearas soon as possible; stresses that there are at present a number of possibilities for legal bases enabling the EU to take action on the matter; calls on the Commission to consider all those possibilities with the aim of proposing a coherent and effective mechanism;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes ‘whistleblower’ to mean anybody who reports on or reveals information on an unlawful or wrongful act or an act which undermines the public interest,, a serious threat or instance of damage which undermines the public interest and which has come to his or her attention in the context of his or her working relationship, be it in the public or private sector, of a contractual relationship, or of his or her trade union or association activities;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Takes the view that the definition of whistleblower should reassert the principles of ethical conduct, good faith, disinterest and freedom;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Believes that thought should be given to taking legislative action at EU level in order to afford whistle-blowers the necessary legal certainty and protection throughout the Union; calls accordingly on the Commission to continue to look for an appropriate legal basis;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that a breach of the public interest includes, but is not limited to, acts of corruption, conflicts of interest, unlawful use of public funds, threats to the environment, health, public safety, national security and privacy and personal data protection, tax avoidance, attacks on workers’ rights and other social rightsbreaches of labour law and attacks on human rights;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. RStresses the importance of establishing a clear definition of ‘whistle- blower’ that includes the stipulation that there must be no ulterior motive behind disclosures; recalls that in the event of false accusations, those responsible should be held accountable.
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that the role of whistleblowers in revealing serious attacks on the public interest has proved its significance on many occasions over a number of years and that whistleblowing must be recognised as a mechanism which has a vital role to play in preventing unlawful acts; stresses, further, that whistleblowers have proved to be a crucial resource for investigative journalism and for an independent press;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that whistleblowers are proving to be a crucial resource for investigative journalism and for an independent press; emphasises that for this reason members of these professions are vulnerable in the context of the disclosure of sensitive information and must therefore enjoy the same protection as the whistleblowers they protect in the name of the confidentiality of their sources;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Emphasises that protecting whistleblowers is essential if instances of serious wrongdoing are to be brought to the attention of the authorities and the general public; emphasises, further, that the role of whistleblowers must be recognised and the relevant rules harmonised at European level, in order to deter reprisals against them;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that one of the barriers to whistleblowers’ activities is the absence of clearly identified means of reportingprotection, which may deter potential whistle-blowers from reporting what they know; stresses that the absence of clearly identified means of reporting causes a number of whistleblowers to remain silent; expresses its concern about the retaliation and pressures which whistleblowers face when they address the guilty person or party in their organisation;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses that the credibility and validity of a report must be able to be assessed in part on the way in which it was made; believes that it is necessary to establish a coherent systemTakes the view that a coherent, credible and reliable system should be introduced which enables reports to be delivered both inside and outside the organisation; emphasises that public disclosure should be envisaged only as a last resort;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to study a tiered system enablingof procedures to facilitate whistleblowing inside and outside the organisation; stresses that, to do so, clear procedures should be established; believes that employers should be encouraged to introduce internal reporting procedures and that one person should be responsible for collecting reports in each organisation; considers that employee representatives should be involved in the assignment of that role;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Believes that reporting outside the organisation without first going through an internal step is not grounds to invalidate a report, file a lawsuit or refuse to give protection, provided that the whistleblower can provide proof of the risk that he or she is running and acted in good faith and disinterestedly;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Expresses its concerns about the risks run by whistleblowers at their place of work, in particular the risks of direct or indirect retaliation by the employer and by those working for or acting on behalf of the employer; stresses that retaliation usually takes the form of suspending, slowing down or stopping career progression or even dismissal, along with psychological harassment; stresses that retaliation is a barrier to whistleblowers’ activities; believes that it is necessary to introduce protective measures against destabilising practices; takes the view that retaliation should be penalised and sanctioned effectively; stresses that, once somebody is recognised as a whistleblower, the measures taken against him or her should be brought to an endshould be taken to protect him or her;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Takes the view that protection should also be provided if a whistleblower draws attention to conduct involving a Member State;
Amendment 158 #
13b. Notes that investigative journalists and members of the independent press pursue a solitary profession in the course of which they face many kinds of pressure; emphasises, therefore, that it is essential that they should be protected against all attempts at intimidation;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Expresses its concern aboutCondemns the practice of gagging orders, which involve filing or threatening to file lawsuits against the whistleblower not in an effort to have him or her convictedsecure justice, but in an effort to bring about self-censorship or financial, mental or psychological exhaustion;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Stresses, however, that a clear distinction must be drawn between the professional confidentiality obligations which employees and public servants have and the need to disclose or bear witness in good faith to instances of wrongdoing likely to undermine the public interest. Any person who makes a report which they know to be false or which is malicious must be liable to disciplinary measures or even prosecution;
Amendment 177 #
16. Believes that the option to report confidentially or anonymously would encourage whistleblowers to share information which they would not share otherwise; stresses, in that regard, that clearly regulated means of reporting anonymously or confidentially should be introduced, at least at the first stage of the reporting procedure;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that nobody should lose the benefit of protection on the sole grounds that he or she has misjudged the facts or that the perceived threat to the public interest did not materialise, provided that, at the time of reporting, he or she had reasonable grounds to believe them to be trueacted in good faith and disinterestedly;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses the role that public authorities, non-governmental organisations and trade unions play in supporting and helping whistleblowers in their dealings within their organisation;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Calls on the Member States, with a view to making these measures effective, to consider the advisability of setting up national compensation funds;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Calls on the Commission to introduce the principle of granting an EU passport to any third-country national who, whether in the course of their duties or not, has disclosed information about illegal conduct or acts of espionage, committed either by a third country or a domestic or multinational company which are prejudicial to a State, a nation or Union citizens and jeopardise, without their knowledge, the integrity of a government, national security or collective or individual freedoms;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Emphasises that, in addition to all the protection measures afforded to whistleblowers in general, these whistleblowers in particular must be guaranteed proper reception arrangements, accommodation and safety in a Member State which does not have an extradition agreement with the country which committed the acts in question. In cases where the European Union has an extradition agreement with the third country involved, calls on the Commission, pursuant to Article 67(2) TFEU on European asylum policy, to use its powers to take all the measures required to protect these whistleblowers, who are particular vulnerable to severe reprisals in the country whose illegal or fraudulent practices they brought to public attention;