The ECB has announced that it will introduce an improved internal reporting channel for whistleblowers. This is a major achievement on the road to greater support for all those who uncover malpractice for the sake of the common good. All too often whistleblowers are subject to considerable reprisals, lose their jobs or are sued for their revelations of maladministration in public institutions.
In a letter of 2019, I had asked the ECB to introduce a whistleblower channel in line with the European Whistleblowing Directive. The fact that the ECB is now meeting this demand is a great success. The new internal reporting channel meets important standards, such as, for the first time, the possibility to make anonymous reports.
Scandals of considerable size have been brought to light by PanamaPapers, Dieselgate or recently by the FinCEN files. We owe these revelations to courageous whistleblowers who have put the common good above their own advantage. The murders of Daphne Caruana Galizia and Jan Kuciak show how important it is to protect those who uncover illegal activities.
With green European greetings,
Sven Giegold
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ECB press release: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2020/html/ecb.pr201021~c5bd1451d9.en.html
My written question to the ECB: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ECON-QZ-639941_EN.pdf
The ECB’s answer: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/ecb.mepletter190927_Giegold~bdb5d44333.en.pdf