The Eu whistleblower protection directive: application to the wirecard crisis

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the new EU whistle blower directive on the role of whistle blowers in proactive crisis management. The authors concluded that if the EU directive comes into force in December 2021, the positive significance of whistle blowers in proactive crisis management will increase. This effect is argued to be achieved through an increase in whistle blower reports, as organizations are incentivized to set up whistleblowing arrangements while (potential) whistle blowers become empowered. The derived results contribute to the change of the perception of whistle blowers from a denunciator to an asset in organizations. The Wire card case is one of the latest cases in which a whistle blower has been instrumental in uncovering criminal activity and, moreover, one of the largest European economic scandals in the recent past. The aim of the analysis is to assess whether the EU directive could have impacted the Wire card crisis if it had been in force earlier. Through this analysis, the influence of the directive can be examined by applying a real case. The thesis concludes that there are aspects that might have mitigated the crisis but most likely not have prevented the crisis in its entirety