BNR – Kalin Slavov: The innovations in the protection of whistleblowers will be in the private sector

The EU Directive on the protection of whistleblowers was adopted on 7 October 2019 and enables Member States to take a leading position in the field in the next 2 years. This is the period in which they must transpose the common European rules into their national legislation.

International organization Transparency International publish analysis and recommendations that will support the adoption of effective anti-corruption measures and contribute to the fight against corruption at national level.

A whistleblower  is a person who exposes secretive information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical or not correct within a private or public organization.The information of alleged wrongdoing can be classified in many ways: violation of company policy/rules, law, regulation or threat to public interest/national security, as well as fraud, and corruption. Those who become whistleblowers can choose to bring information or allegations to surface either internally or externally. Internally, a whistleblower can bring his/her accusations to the attention of other people within the accused organization such as an immediate supervisor. Externally, a whistleblower can bring allegations to light by contacting a third party outside of an accused organization such as the media, government, law enforcement, or those who are concerned. Whistleblowers, however, take the risk of facing stiff reprisal and retaliation from those who are accused or alleged of wrongdoing.

Each Member State has the possibility under the Directive to extend its scope to other national rules, ” Kalin Slavov explained.

The big changes will be mostly in the private sector, added Kalin Slavov.

“In the private sector, this topic is missing. New mechanisms will have to be created in the sector and adaptation will have to happen in the nearest future. ”

He suggested that the mechanism of transposing the Directive through national law could lead to resistance from the private sector. According to him, however, if it is used correctly, it can bring positive business results.

You could hear the whole interview with the CEO of Transparency International – Bulgaria on the website of Bulgarian National Radio.