Greenpeace International ("Greenpeace") has initiated a legal action against Energy Transfer (ET), marking the first use of the European Union's new anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) directive.
Greenpeace has stated that its aims to recover damages and costs from ET's ongoing lawsuits since 2017 against Greenpeace entities in the U.S. These lawsuits followed the 2016 protests against ET's Dakota Access Pipeline, which ET claims Greenpeace orchestrated. The suits include a US $300 million defamation suit against Greenpeace following Greenpeace’s participation in an open letter in relation to the pipeline.
The case is set to be a test case of the new EU anti-SLAPP Directive. In its application, Greenpeace has cited Dutch law on torts and abuse of rights, as well as Chapter V of the EU Directive, which protects organisations based in the EU against SLAPPs outside the EU.
With appreciation to Amineh Farasatmand for her contribution in preparing this blog.
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