# The EU whistleblower directive

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The EU whistleblower directive," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-eu-whistleblower-directive/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The European Union whistleblower protection directive, which John Kiriakou describes as a watered-down descendant of the Greek law he helped write in 2015. His objection is to its exemption: the directive does not apply to Brussels itself. He treats that as an instance of a general legislative habit rather than a European failing — Congress, he notes, routinely exempts itself from the laws it passes, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act.*

- **Descended from:** [The Greek law](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-greek-whistleblower-law) of 2015, passed 2018
- **Kiriakou's verdict:** Watered down by layers of amendment and multi-country approval
- **The exemption:** It does not apply to Brussels itself
- **His analogy:** 'Like a whistleblower law for the United States, but not for Washington'
- **The American parallel:** Congress exempts itself from coverage, as with the Occupational Safety and Health Act

**The EU whistleblower directive** is the European Union instrument requiring member states to enact whistleblower protection in national law. [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) has a direct interest in it: it descends from [the Greek statute](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-greek-whistleblower-law) he was hired to help draft in 2015, a version of which the European Parliament adopted for EU-wide implementation.[1]

## 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.[1] 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."*[2]

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."*[2][3]

## See also

- [Kiriakou Greek whistleblower law](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-greek-whistleblower-law)
- [Blueprint for Free Speech](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/blueprint-for-free-speech)
- [Whistleblower Protection Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/whistleblower-protection-act)

## Sources

1. Dutch-language framing — confirm John speaks / not a dub (2020-02-25), at 26:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqWcgBb6GDM&t=1577s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2020-02-25-cafe-weltschmerz-dutch-dutch-language-framing-confirm-john-speaks-no/
2. Dutch-language framing — confirm John speaks / not a dub (2020-02-25), at 27:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqWcgBb6GDM&t=1640s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2020-02-25-cafe-weltschmerz-dutch-dutch-language-framing-confirm-john-speaks-no/
3. Dutch-language framing — confirm John speaks / not a dub (2020-02-25), at 27:53. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqWcgBb6GDM&t=1673s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2020-02-25-cafe-weltschmerz-dutch-dutch-language-framing-confirm-john-speaks-no/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-eu-whistleblower-directive/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt