Under the proposed Directive, a whistleblower is granted protection when reporting on breaches of EU rules in the areas of:

Public procurement, financial services, anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing, product safety, transport safety, environmental protection, nuclear safety, public health, food and feed safety, animal health and welfare, consumer protection, protection of privacy and personal data, and security of network and information systems.

The Directive protects whistleblowers of good faith: a person is protected if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe the information reported was true at the time of reporting, and that this information falls within the scope of the Directive.