MEPs at the Brussels plenary session held a final exchange of views on Wednesday 10 November on the draft report by Tiemo Wölken (S&D, Germany) and Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta) on SLAPPs (see EUROPE 12828/1).
The exchange was held in the presence of Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Values and Transparency, who is responsible for overseeing the work on this dossier within the Commission.
A draft directive and recommendations to combat the gauntlet procedures in the EU are expected by 2022 (see EUROPE 12689/22).
The Commission has so far only launched a public consultation on the subject (see EUROPE 12804/20) and a more specific consultation of European judges. The next step for the European institution is to bring together the stakeholders. This meeting will take place on 25 November, Jourová told MEPs.
“The two rapporteurs agreed to present the main findings of the Parliament’s report” on this occasion, the Vice-President added, thanking the parliamentarians for their work.
The report, which will be put to a vote by MEPs on Thursday 11 November, details all the measures they would like to see included in the directive and the forthcoming recommendations.
In particular, MEPs call for means to be put in place to allow early dismissal of SLAPP proceedings, to avoid opportunistic court shopping and to support the victims of SLAPP proceedings, including financially.
For the full report: https://bit.ly/30eiR2Y (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)