Europe’s anti-SLAPP Directive is facing growing scrutiny over whether it could unintentionally become a tool for relitigating foreign disputes. Campaigners warn that it could complicate investment decisions tied to energy and industrial projects

Even before a North Dakota jury handed down a $345 million civil verdict against Greenpeace for its conduct around the Dakota Access Pipeline, the campaign group did something telling. Rather than appeal in the United States, where the trial took place, it filed a parallel suit in the Netherlands and asked a Dutch court to declare the entire American proceeding an “abusive” prosecution under the EU’s anti-SLAPP Directive. 

An Amsterdam court heard arguments on April 16, with a ruling expected by June 3. In practice, the case asks a European judge to function as an appellate reviewer of an American jury trial. If Brussels tolerates it, the consequences will not stop at the Atlantic shoreline, and it will come back to haunt European consumers and industries. 

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