The European Union has approved sweeping new protections for whistleblowers and is sending the new rules onto member countries to adapt them into their own laws.

"It's a real thrill for those of us on the front lines," said Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project in Washington, D.C., which has helped thousands of whistleblowers with cases. Devine has worked to pass or defend 34 national or international whistleblower laws, including nearly all U.S. laws, during the last two decades.

"The EU law is stronger than any U.S. law," he told Law.com's Corporate Counsel on Monday. "It leaves the U.S. in the dust. We were the pioneers on whistleblower law but, compared to the advances others have made, we are becoming more like the reptiles."