Whistleblowers play a vital role in protecting the public interest. They are often the first to uncover wrongdoing, from corruption to abuses of power, and their courage helps safeguard transparency, accountability, and democracy. Yet, too often, whistleblowers face stigma, retaliation or a lack of trust in the systems designed to protect them.
Supporting a culture where speaking up is safe
CRPE is glad to start a new project, WAKE UP, and to continue the cross country initiatives on EUs whistleblowers protection in an European initiative focused on Romania, Poland, Latvia and Estonia plus Italy designed to further enforce this key integrity tool and framework. We aim to create an enabling environment for whistleblowers in the public sector by:
- Raising awareness of the new national regulations implementing the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive (2019/1937);
- Providing training for those who handle whistleblower reports inside public administrations;
- Strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to advise and support whistleblowers;
- Promoting a positive culture of whistleblowing through awareness campaigns, university seminars, and accessible online resources.
WAKE UP supports both those who report wrongdoing and the institutions responsible for ensuring that their voices are heard and protected.
WAKE UP Project: objectives, impact and partners
It will provide country specific and EU cross country comparative reports on how the Directive is being implemented across Europe; online courses (MOOCs) to inform potential whistleblowers of their rights and reporting channels; guidelines and training for public administrations on handling reports effectively; capacity-building programs for CSOs, trade unions, and community representatives, but also relevant will collect national case studies, media campaigns, to raise public awareness and good practices.
The WAKE UP consortium brings together six organizations from five EU countries: Amapola (Italy) and University of Turin – Department of Law (Italy), Centrul Român de Politici Europene (CRPE) (Romania), Transparency International Latvia (TI LV), Transparency International Estonia, Instytut Spraw Obywatelskich (INSPRO) (Poland). Together, we aim to empower whistleblowers, train institutions, and foster a culture where speaking up is not only safe but valued.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
