Greenpeace filed on Monday an anti-intimidation court case against a U.S. energy company suing the environmental organization for hundreds of millions, testing for the first time a new European Union directive to counter manifestly unfounded cases aimed at harassing civil society.
The new rules, which came into effect last year, would allow courts in the 27 member states to block enforcement of SLAPP lawsuits outside of the bloc and order companies to pay compensation for legal fees.
Fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer is suing Greenpeace for $300 million in North Dakota for organizing 2016 protests near the Standing Rock Reservation.
“Greenpeace is fighting off a devastating lawsuit that is aimed at preventing us and other civil society organizations from doing their work,” the group’s legal counsel Daniel Simons told The Associated Press.
Now, Amsterdam-based Greenpeace wants a Dutch court to force Energy Transfer to pay compensation for ongoing proceedings over the Dakota Access Pipeline.
