Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
   The European Union has taken an important step towards protecting journalists and human rights defenders against unfounded claims or arbitrary judicial procedures. The Spanish rotating presidency of the Council of Member States on the one hand and the European Parliament on the other hand reached a political agreement on a directive that would protect these individuals from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). That is, against journalists and activists participating in public events
  According to what was stated in a statement distributed in Brussels at dawn on Thursday, the statement added, “The use of these lawsuits to silence people who speak out on issues of public interest is a growing phenomenon. The directive will establish procedural safeguards against such claims in civil matters that have cross-border implications.”
“Our democracies are at risk when the rich and powerful can silence critics in court simply because they speak out on matters of public interest. With this new law, the EU defends journalists and human rights defenders against baseless and abusive lawsuits.” According to what the statement quoted from Felix Bolaños, the Spanish Minister of Justice, whose country holds the current rotating presidency of the Union
Individuals targeted by SLAPP cases will benefit from a number of procedural safeguards and protections. They can ask the court:
Rejection of the claim at an early stage. If the claim is considered to be manifestly unfounded, the judge may decide to dismiss the claim at the earliest possible stage of the proceedings. The court must expedite the submission of such requests from the accused
Request a financial guarantee from the person or company that submitted the claim. The court can decide to require the claimant, i.e. the person or company that initiated the SLAPP case, to provide security to cover the costs of the proceedings. The court can decide, for example, that the claimant must bear the costs of the proceedings, including the costs of legal representation for the SLAPP victim. The judge may also decide that the party who initiated the SLAPP case could be subject to punishment or other measures that are equally effective.
Cross-border SLAPP cases
The Council and the European Parliament have agreed on how to define the cross-border nature of a SLAPP issue. A matter will be considered to have cross-border effects unless both parties are residents of the same Member State as the court and all other relevant elements of the situation are present in that Member State.

Provisions for countries that are not members of the European Union
If a person living in the EU is targeted by a SLAPP case in a third country, EU Member States must refuse to recognize and enforce the third country judgment if it is considered unfounded or clearly abusive in the Member State concerned.
Measures to support victims of prosecutions of journalists and human rights defenders SLAPP
To further support SLAPP victims, Member States will need to provide information, in one place, on procedural safeguards and remedies.
In order to better understand the scale of this phenomenon, Member States will also collect specific data available on SLAPP cases from the courts.
Today's agreement will need the approval of representatives of member states within the Council (Coreper). If the text is approved, it will then need to be formally adopted by both the Council and the European Parliament.
SLAPP programs are typically launched by powerful individuals, lobbyists, corporations, and government agencies. Its purpose is to censor, intimidate and silence critics by charging them the cost of legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.
Typical targets of SLAPPs are journalists and human rights defenders. Other people involved in public engagement such as researchers and academics can also be targeted.
The increase in SLAPPs has been documented in a number of rule of law reports, assessments conducted by the European Commission examining rule of law developments in EU Member States, and Council of Europe analyses.