On the basis of the study on the feasibility of a legal instrument on the protection of employees who make disclosures in the public interest carried out in the course of 2012 by an expert in the field at the request of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), the Committee entrusted a working group of its members (its Bureau enlarged to the representatives of three other member states: France, Ireland and the United Kingdom) to conduct the preparation of a draft recommendation for protecting individuals who, in the context of their work-based relationship, report or disclose information on threats or harm to the public interest (‘whistleblowers’).

The working group started its work in 2012 to complete it in 2013. A meeting was organised on 30-31 May 2013 to consult key stakeholders (representatives of civil society and other actors) on the draft recommendation on the protection of whistleblowers. The draft instrument which took account of the observations arising from the consultation was subsequently approved by CDCJ (88th meeting, 16-18 December 2013) before being submitted to the Committee of Ministers for adoption. The recommendation (CM/Rec(2014)7) was adopted on 30 April 2014.