A legislative proposal drafted by Xnet and registered in the Spanish Congress on May 30, 2019 - as soon as the registry opened - following the usual Xnet Do-It-Yourself methodology, was submitted to Parliament on June 13.

The principle behind this methodology is that true democracy is achieved through collaboration - not subordination - of organized civil society with the citizens’ representatives in the institutions. The draft bill had the initial backing of the deputies who had committed themselves before the elections to support it.

This proposed bill, if passed, would make Spain the first country in the Union to apply the European Whistleblowers Protection Directive, which gathered a broad all-group consensus in the European Parliament last April (591 for, 29 against, 33 abstentions).

MEPs Virginie Rozière, rapporteur for the Directive (Socialists & Democrats), and Eva Joly (The Greens/European Free Alliance) are among the representatives and international organizations supporting the Xnet proposal [see list at the end].

Last April, Xnet welcomed the approval of the European Whistleblowers Protection Directive, the content of which it considers in many aspects its own for it includes many of the amendments it submitted during the drafting and shows the impact of the pressure exerted by the international organizations which Xnet belongs to.

The definition of whistleblower, closely related to the concept of public interest; the recognition of the possibility for his/her anonymity; the prevention of data protection or business secret misuse to invalidate evidence of abuse; and freedom of choice regarding the channels used for denunciation, are some of the main amendments made by Xnet which were included in the final draft of the Directive that was submitted for the rapporteur’s approval.

The Directive and, consequently, the proposed bill under consideration by the Spanish parliament constitute a turning point in the recognition and legal protection of the figure of the whistleblower in Europe. From now on, he/she is endowed with a strong cross-cutting legislation, which benefits not only the fight against fraud and corruption, but also against abuse in all public-interest areas: healthcare, the environment, justice, democracy, consumer protection... This is a spectrum especially relevant for countries where whistleblowers have not enjoyed previously any kind of protection and which, at the same time, suffer from high levels of corruption.

The Directive encompasses both the public and private sectors.

Even though denouncing irregularities is essential to protect the public interest and to preserve accountability and integrity in the public and private sectors, whistleblowers do so at a high personal risk. Reporting abuse should not be a heroic act. It should be part of everyday normality - normality assumed to such an extent that its deterrent effect would make it almost unnecessary. But 70% of corruption cases are unveiled by people who experience retaliation and persecution afterwards.