On Tuesday, the European Parliament voted to provide increased protections for whistleblowers in the EU. Euronews spoke with former whistleblower Antoine Deltour to ask him what he thought of these new protections.
ADVERTISEMENTThe European Parliament passed legislation on Tuesday that extends a "high level of protection" to whistleblowers. The new protections also provide whistleblowers with "safe channels" to report breaches of security.
The new law protects whistleblowers from "being punished, sacked, demoted or sued in court". Legislation defended these protections by saying that whistleblowers play a "key role" in protecting safety and privacy.
"This will help tackle fraud, corruption, corporate tax avoidance and damage to people's health and the environment," said European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans.
On Raw Politics, host Tess Arcilla spoke to former whistleblower Antoine Deltour. Deltour was serving a six-month suspended sentence for exposing undercover tax schemes in Luxembourg. Deltour had his sentence thrown out in January 2018, with Luxembourg's highest court ruling that Deltour should have been identified as a whistleblower.
"I am very happy because I think it's a very big step forward," Deltour said.
"I've experienced very long and difficult judicial proceedings and I think that this directive will avoid this for future whistleblowers in Europe."