We win some, we lose some. This week’s bulletin is a mixed bag of news from court cases and solidarity actions – but we need to find opportunities to fight back! One such opportunity is the July 2nd Day of Action against SLAPPS and you are invited!  The goal of this monthly bulletin is to gather some of the many court cases, calls for solidarity and resources, or trainings across Europe. Help us spread the word and ask your friends to sign up here.

NB: We know this is only a small selection, if you have any news, solidarity call out or resource you want us to include in the next bulletin – don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]

NEWS & COURT CASES

Romania

Big Win! Regarding – SLAPP suit that Romgaz, a state-owned energy company in Romania, started against Greenpeace Romania seeking its dissolution, has failed: the company withdrew its claim the morning before the  first hearing of the court case would have happened. Greenpeace Romania opposed the withdrawal, seeking to proceed with the case in order to obtain a clear judicial ruling that would dismantle the serious accusations brought by Romgaz which aimed to intimidate and discredit Greenpeace Romania. Instagram

Germany

A German court has rejected a climate case brought by a Peruvian farmer against the German energy company RWE, but set a potentially important precedent on polluters’ liability for their carbon emissions. Link to The Guardian article

Norway

BIG WIN: The European Free Trade Association Court issued its Advisory Opinion in the case against Norway confirming that under European Union/European Economic Area law, climate assessments for new fossil fuel projects must include not only the emissions produced at the drilling site, but also those resulting from the subsequent combustion of the extracted oil and gas, wherever it takes place. The Norwegian government was therefore wrong to exclude these downstream emissions when approving new drilling.Read the Opinion Piece on how this could impact other licencing process, the groups  press release here and share the Instagram post.

SOLIDARITY & CROWDFUNDING

Italy

Amplify the joint statement “The Specter of Repression is Haunting Europe” promoted by civil society networks in Italy (In Difesa Di) and Spain (No Somos Delito). The statement addresses the growing concern over legislative measures in both countries that restrict civil rights and liberties and criminalise social movements. Given the shared urgency of this issue across national borders, they are seeking the support of civil society organizations  to help amplify the statement on social media.  Please  share the statement through your channels.  Italian statement + Instagram to amplify

Tag the promoting networks: [@InDifesaDi and @NoSomosDelito].

UK

ALL THE HEATHROW 10 ARE FREE – Will Goldring, Adam Beard, Luke Watson, Luke Elson and Rory Wilson have all been released while the others were released before sentencing. Despite never doing their action they all received harsh repressed for supposedly planning action against Heathrow’s Airports, leading to many months in prison on remand.

Many of them received huge fines and have had their lives turned upside down since going inside, please consider donating to their crowdfunders to help them get back on their feet. Instagram

Belgium

5 people are facing trial for ‘aggravated resistance’ in connection to the Code Red action against Deurne airport in late 2023.  Of the 5 people, 2 are over 70, at least 3 never participated in a Code Red action, and one was arrested so violently that the police broke his arm and fingers. Please, give a donation towards legal costs. We need €5,000 to pay for lawyers.  https://opencollective.com/coderougerood

RESOURCES & EVENTS

Join the European day of action against SLAPPs

Earlier this year a jury of nine in North Dakota found Greenpeace in the US and Greenpeace International liable for USD$660 million in an absurd lawsuit brought by oil pipeline giant Energy Transfer. This case can set an example, for better or worse. So on 2 July 2025, a court  in Amsterdam will hold an initial administrative hearing in the first test case of the European Union’s new anti-SLAPP directive, where Greenpeace International seeks to recover the damages as a result of Energy Transfer’s successive SLAPP suits against it in the United States. This is a crucial test of the new directive. EU member states have until 7 May 2026 to bring the directive into their national laws but so far little progress has been made. 

SLAPPs, strategic lawsuits against public participation, are a tool used by corporations to intimidate and silence activists and movements defending people and the planet. Many organisations and individuals have long been victims of the rising threat of authoritarianism, oligarchy and billionaire takeover. They come for us because they know that we have the power to stop their abuse.

This is why we, a coalition of human rights, legal aid, social and climate justice organisations and groups, together with you, want to use the symbolic moment of July 2nd to organise a European Day of Action against SLAPPs and urge our governments to protect us against corporate intimidation and silencing tactics.

So far 30 organisations from 10 countries have participated in a workshop that designed decentralised actions across several European capitals. Although each local group will self-organise according to their particular context, all the actions will be coordinated to carry a common narrative in order to project a unified front against SLAPPs.

How can you join in?

• – Join your local allies, invite your colleagues or volunteer’s presence during the activity, support in formulating demands to your government, support in developing communication around the activity and anti-SLAPP or develop your own idea!
• – If you want to join in, please contact [email protected] with information about your organisation and how you would like to be part of it.