The transposition of the EU Whistleblowing Directive: what role does national legislation in the member states envisage for trade unions?

This chapter examines the role that Member States(MS) envisaged for trade unions when they implemented the EU Directive on Whistleblowing (EUD), which came into force in 2021. The EUD adopts a three-tiered approach to disclosures of information about wrongdoing, namely, internal, external and public. Such an approach facilitates the involvement of unions in a range of matters, for example: ensuring that employers have appropriate whistleblowing policies and agreed procedures; the provision of advice and representation to members who are actual or potential whistleblowers or are the subject of allegations; checking that identified wrongdoing is dealt with; protection against victimisation and the monitoring and review of arrangements To provide context for the discussion which follows the chapter starts by providing some definitions and a short review of the literature on trade union involvement in whistleblowing prior to the EU Directive coming into force. It then examines in detail the extent to which EU MS have implemented whistleblowing legislation in ways that give trade unions a role at collective and individual level. The chapter concludes with a discussion about international best practices and suggests what might be needed to ensure that countries adopt them.

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