When Disclosure Is Not Enough: A Comparative Policy Analysis of Institutional Design in EU Whistleblowing Regimes

Directive (EU) 2019/1937 has expanded formal whistleblower protection across the European Union, yet stronger legal architectures do not consistently translate disclosure into public-integrity outcomes. Combining fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of the 27 EU Member States with structured comparison of Denmark, Ireland, and Slovakia, this article examines how institutional design shapes that relationship. By examining how different state resources are mobilised, it shows that public-integrity activation depends on whether disclosure remains connected to protection, investigation, and enforcement across the governance system. Administrative capacity, coordination, sectoral and organisational conditions, and rule-of-law safeguards shape whether formal protection enables authoritative action on reported wrongdoing.