The text, resulting from an agreement between deputies and senators, was the subject of a final positive vote of the Senate, completing three months of legislative progress.
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On Wednesday, February 16, Parliament definitively adopted a bill aimed at better protecting and supporting whistleblowers. The text more precisely defines their status, guides their procedures, strengthens their rights and those of the people or associations that assist them, facilitates their financial and psychological support. IResulting from an agreement between deputies and senators, it was the subject of a final positive vote by the Senate, completing three months of legislative progress.
From the Mediator which shook the pharmaceutical world to the “Luxleaks” in the financial world, many cases have been brought to the public square by these whistleblowers, who often describe their commitment as a long ordeal with an uncertain outcome.
The whistleblower is defined as “a natural person who reports or discloses, without direct financial compensation and in good faith, information relating to a crime, an offense, a threat or harm to the general interest”or a violation of an international commitment by France.
The new law provides for certain exceptions, such as facts and information covered by national defense secrecy, that of judicial deliberations or medical secrecy.
This text transposes into French law a European directive of 2019, going beyond what is required by European law, and corrects the imperfections of the pioneering law, known as “Sapin II”, of 2016, little used to date. The Maison des Lanceurs d’alerte association, which has mobilized against any weakening of the text, welcomed a “strong signal in favor of citizen vigilance”.