CliDef Among 40 Organizations Taking Action Against SLAPPs in Europe

Press Release
Written By Betsy Apple

Amsterdam, Netherlands – In a first test case of Europe’s new legislation to protect freedom of expression and stop abusive lawsuits, Greenpeace International today challenged the US oil pipeline company Energy Transfer in court in the Netherlands. At the same time, 40 organisations across fifteen European countries are urging their respective governments to transpose the EU “anti-SLAPP” directive into national law. 

The new EU rules are aimed at addressing the growing number of abusive lawsuits (SLAPPs) against journalists, media outlets, and human rights defenders. EU Member States have until 7 May 2026 at the latest to transpose the rules into their national laws, but so far little progress has been made.

In February 2025, Greenpeace International initiated the first test of the European Union’s anti-SLAPP Directive by filing a lawsuit in Dutch court against Energy Transfer. Greenpeace International seeks to recover all damages and costs it has suffered as a result of Energy Transfers’s back-to-back, meritless lawsuits demanding hundreds of millions of dollars from Greenpeace International and the Greenpeace organisations in the US. 

The multi-billion dollar company Energy Transfer brought two back-to-back SLAPP suits against Greenpeace International and Greenpeace in the US after the peaceful Standing Rock protests in 2016 against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The first case was dismissed, but the Greenpeace organisations continue to defend against the second case, which is ongoing, after a North Dakota jury recently awarded over 660 million USD in damages to the pipeline giant, for showing solidarity with the Indigenous-led protest.

Energy Transfer’s lawsuit in the US is a clear-cut example of Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) — a type of lawsuit that aims to bury nonprofits and activists in legal fees, push them towards bankruptcy and ultimately silence dissent. Big Oil companies Shell, Total, and ENI have also filed SLAPPs against Greenpeace entities in recent years.

Some of these cases have been successfully stopped in their tracks. This includes Greenpeace France successfully defeating TotalEnergies’ SLAPP on 28 March 2024, and Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International forcing Shell to back down from its SLAPP on 10 December 2024. Greenpeace Italy and Greenpeace Netherlands are facing the Italian oil giant Eni in an ongoing court case in Italy.

“Over a year has passed since the passage of the landmark Anti-SLAPP Directive and startlingly little progress has been made in making its protective measures a reality. Greenpeace International’s lawsuit in the Netherlands now presents Dutch courts with the first major test of the directive, said Charlie Holt, the European lead for Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef) and part of the Steering Committee of CASE. “In its preamble, the Directive emphasised that protection from SLAPPs filed outside of the EU was necessary to protect European democracy and safeguard human rights in the Union. If such protections cannot be invoked in a case as aggressive and transparently abusive as Energy Transfer’s, it’s hard to imagine a situation in which they would ever apply. Until we have clarity from the courts, however, European democracy will continue to remain exposed to attack by powerful private interests.”

“Abusive SLAPP suits are a direct threat to freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest. But together we will defeat this unjust tactic. The case has the potential to turn the page on intimidation lawsuits and show that corporate bullying doesn’t work, said Mads Flarup Christensen, Executive director, Greenpeace International. “Energy Transfer is trying to silence the real story: they are making billions while polluting our planet with oil and gas.”More and more organisations, journalists, activists, human rights defenders, and members of communities across Europe are recognising SLAPPs as a threat to their freedom of speech as well as the public’s right to know. CASE (Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe) has identified a total of 1,049 SLAPP cases brought in the period 2010-2023. EU member states have until 7 May 2026 to bring the directive into their national laws but so far little progress has been made. This is why over 40 organisations in more than fifteen countries have gathered today to push their respective governments in honoring the directive.

"After years of negotiating legislation, it's time to see how the EU anti-SLAPP directive will be applied in practice and to test its effectiveness in protecting public participation, said Maja Sever, President of the European Federation of Journalists. “Today European journalists firmly stand with Greenpeace: against the abuse of power, for freedom of expression and the right to protest. This case concerns us all."

Participating organisations:

  • Greenpeace International

  • CASE

  • Samen Sterk! vzw

  • Erfpacht vzw

  • Legally Green

  • Greenpeace Belgium 

  • Greenpeace Luxembourg

  • Greenpeace Spain

  • Greenpeace Romania

  • Bankwatch Romania

  • Greenpeace Sweden

  • Grad Recht

  • European Environmental Bureau

  • ClientEarth

  • The Trade Union of Journalists in Croatia

  • Za Zemiata

  • Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation

  • Rettet den Regenwald (Rainforest Rescue)

  • European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

  • Asociata EcoLegal

  • Free Press Unlimited (FPU)

  • Index on Censorship

  • Global Climate Legal Defense

  • The Good Lobby Italy

  • The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation

  • Bulgarian Anti-SLAPP Working Group

  • Belgian Anti-SLAPP Working Group

  • Polish Anti-SLAPP Working Group

  • FIBGAR - Baltasar Garzon International Foundation

  • Foundation Atelier for Community Transformation ACT BiH

  • CeRe - The Resource Center for Public Participation

  • Oil Change International

  • Civic Initiatives

  • ARTICLE 19 Europe

  • Xnet - Institute for Democratic Digitalisation

  • Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT)

  • Global Witness

  • FragDenStaat

  • Reporter ohne Grenzen

  • Center for Spatial Justice

  • FADA Collective

  • dju - German Union of Journalists

  • Fridays for Future Germany

  • Blueprint for Free Speech

  • No SLAPP Anlaufstelle Deutschland

  • Centar Za Životnu Sredinu

  • Aarhus Center 

Additional Resources:

Betsy Apple
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