The EU whistleblower directive
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The EU whistleblower directive is the European Union instrument requiring member states to enact whistleblower protection in national law. John Kiriakou has a direct interest in it: it descends from the Greek statute he was hired to help draft in 2015, a version of which the European Parliament adopted for EU-wide implementation.

Why it came out weaker

Kiriakou does not present the dilution as sabotage. The text "is not perfect, of course, because it had to go through so many different layers of amendments and writing and rewriting, and had to be approved by" many different countries. Multi-state passage costs a law its edges.

The Brussels exemption

The specific defect he was asked about is the carve-out: the directive's requirements do not apply to Brussels itself. Kiriakou's response was to name the pattern rather than the institution, "like a whistleblower law for the United States, but not for Washington."

He treats this as ordinary legislative behaviour and points at his own country's version of it: "that's how every piece of legislation is here. Congress is automatically exempt from coverage, like, for example, OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Congress doesn't have to observe any of it. They exempt themselves from coverage. Same thing all over."

See also

- Kiriakou Greek whistleblower law
- Blueprint for Free Speech
- Whistleblower Protection Act
