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Dear all,

For your information, please find attached a letter on the Follow up to the Commission “Anti-SLAPP” Recommendation

(EU) 2022/758 of 27 April 2022 and Anti-SLAPP Directive (EU) 2024/1069.

It has been distributed to all Permanent representations (on 21 November), but we wanted to send it also to you, in case it has not reached you yet.

Kind regards,

European Commission
DG JUST Anti-SLAPP Team

Letter and Questionnaire - data collection_2025.pdf

Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111 Office: MO59 05/098 – Tel. direct line +32 229-87380

EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR JUSTICE AND CONSUMERS

The Director-General

Brussels JUST.C.4/FD/ms (2025)11753970s

Permanent Representation

Subject: Follow up to the Commission “Anti-SLAPP” Recommendation

(EU) 2022/758 of 27 April 2022 and Anti-SLAPP Directive (EU) 2024/1069

Dear Ambassador,

A cornerstone of healthy and thriving democracies is a pluralistic debate. Citizens must

have access to reliable information and be able to form their own judgements in a public

space where diverse views can be expressed. Journalists and human rights defenders play

a crucial role in nurturing this public debate including by investigating and informing

citizens on and highlighting issues of public interest.

In this context, the Commission adopted the Anti-SLAPP initiative on 27 April 2022,

consisting of a Directive1 (in force since 6 May 2024, hereafter “Anti-SLAPP Directive”)

and a Recommendation2 (hereafter: “the Recommendation”) which is directly applicable.

The Commission's 2025 Rule of Law Report3 notes that EU legislation and the dedicated

Recommendation issued by the Commission on SLAPP have helped stimulate further steps

in national legislation. On the other hand, reform processes are pending in some Member

States, in spite of concerns about journalist’s safety and their working conditions.

As announced in the Commission’s Communication on a “European Democracy Shield”,

ensuring the safety and protection of journalists remains a key priority. As part of its

efforts to protect journalists against undue pressure, threats and attacks, the Commission

is committed to following up on the implementation of this anti-SLAPPs package. The

Commission will organise a high-level event on SLAPPs to prepare for the review of the

anti-SLAPP Recommendation and it will also review EU private international law rules to

assess the possible need to include SLAPP-relevant aspects. The mandate of the expert

(1) Directive (EU) 2024/1069 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 on protecting

persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded claims or abusive court

proceedings (‘Strategic lawsuits against public participation’) OJ L, 2024/1069, 16.4.2024, ELI:

http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1069/oj

(2) Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/758 of 27 April 2022 on protecting journalists and human

rights defenders who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court

proceedings (‘Strategic lawsuits against public participation’), OJ L 138, 17.5.2022, pp. 30–44, ELI:

http://data.europa.eu/eli/reco/2022/758/oj.

(3) COM(2025) 900 final of 8.7.2025.

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group against SLAPPs will be renewed to promote cooperation fostering enhanced direct

support to victims.

As a basis for the preparation of the next yearly report on the anti-SLAPPs

Recommendation (in accordance with its point 34), the Commission is asking Member

States to provide a report on the follow up to the Recommendation, broken down by

measures taken to address the main components of the following chapters of the

Recommendation: Applicable frameworks; Training; Awareness raising; Support

Mechanisms (including the set up and functioning of focal points) and Data collection. To

facilitate this exercise, we have produced a questionnaire which we kindly ask you to

complete (see Annex I to this letter). Please note that the timeframe of reference is 2025.

The deadline to respond to this questionnaire is 31 January 2026. It should be returned to:

[email protected].

In the report on the Recommendation, the Commission will also draw on the information

Member States provide for the Rule of Law report.

The two-year transposition period of the Anti-SLAPP Directive will end on 7 May 2026.

The timely and correct transposition of the Directive is a priority to the Commission, as it

is crucial to protecting democracy and freedom of expression in the EU.

The Commission continues to assist Member States in their transposition work and is

available for any requests for clarifications, technical assistance and practical support. The

contact persons for the transposition of this Directive are: Pia Lindholm (email:

[email protected]; tel. +32 2 2991959), Caterina D’Osualdo (email:

Caterina.D'[email protected]; tel. +32 2 2967853) and Georg Haibach (email:

[email protected]; tel. +32 2 2960182).

We would like to remind you of the approaching end of the transposition deadline and

kindly invite you to use the opportunity of the reply to this letter also to update us on your

progress on the transposition as well as to inform us on which elements of your national

legislative work go beyond the transposition of the Anti-SLAPP Directive, since such

elements are likely to be relevant to the Recommendation. We again invite you to consider

extending your national law also to domestic cases to enable courts to adequately handle

all SLAPPs and provide tools for safeguards to all those targeted with SLAPPs. We are

interested in learning about your plans in that respect during the workshop.

The third transposition workshop on the Anti-SLAPP Directive is due to take place in

Brussels on 27 November 2025 in person at 9:30 – 16:30. Further information has been

provided via email to national transposition contact points.

Looking forward to your active participation, the Commission stands available to answer

any of your questions and queries on this exercise.

Yours sincerely,

3

Ana GALLEGO

ANNEX I - QUESTIONNAIRE

APPLICABLE FRAMEWORKS

1. In the context of the transposition of the Directive, did your Member State decide to

go beyond the minimum harmonisation requirements? Did you expand the safeguards

envisaged by the Directive to national cases? Or did you expand the safeguards

envisaged by the Directive to criminal and/or administrative proceedings? Please

provide any links or documents to draft laws or other documents.

2. How do you ensure the adequate articulation of your legislation on (1) defamation and

(2) data protection, as required by Article 85(2) of the GDPR4, with the right to

freedom of expression and information?

3. How does you Member State ensure that rules and penalties applicable to defamation

are clear and proportionate?

4. Which measures did you take to ensure that the deontological rules that govern the

conduct of legal professionals and the disciplinary measures for violation of those rules

consider and include appropriate measures to discourage SLAPPs?

TRAINING

5. How did you support training opportunities for legal professionals on how to detect

and react to SLAPPs5? Did you encourage associations of legal professionals and

legal training providers to offer training on how to deal with SLAPPs, for example

via the European Judicial Training Network? Did you include this type of training in

broader training on freedom of expression and legal ethics?

6. Did the trainings provided for journalists, other media professionals and human

rights defenders seek to strengthen their capacity to detect and handle SLAPPs?

7. With regards to the substance of those trainings, did you ensure that they cover any

or all of the following elements?

• Relevant aspects of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European

Convention on Human Rights, including the case law of the Court of Justice of

the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, in particular

regarding the articulation of the freedom of expression and information with other

fundamental rights;

4 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection

of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data,

and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).

5 Point 10 of the Recommendation provides the following examples of legal professionals: judiciary and

judicial staff at all court levels, qualified lawyers as well as for potential targets of such court

proceedings.

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• Available procedural safeguards against SLAPPs, as well as information on the

jurisdiction and available law in fundamental rights, criminal, administrative,

civil and commercial matters;

• The obligation for Member States under the GDPR to reconcile by law the

protection of personal data and the right to freedom of expression and

information, in particular the specific exemptions or derogations for data

processing carried out for journalistic purposes or the purpose of academic,

artistic or literary expression6;

• How to recognise and manage being targeted by SLAPPs;

• Knowing one’s rights and obligations to be able to protect oneself against

SLAPPs;

• The ethical standards and guidelines set out by national press or media councils

(for training specific to journalists).

8. Did you encourage higher education institutions to include knowledge on SLAPPs

in their curricula, in particular for law and journalism degrees?

AWARENESS RAISING

9. Please provide examples of initiatives, including those of National Human Rights

Institutions or civil society organisations, which you have supported and that

contributed to raising awareness on the issue of SLAPPs, in particular for potential

SLAPP targets?

10. To what specific groups did you address those activities7, and how did you ensure that

those activities explained the issue in a simple and accessible way so that SLAPPs be

easily recognised?

11. Did you make sure that those activities provided information on the legal lines of

defence available to SLAPP targets as well as information on support structures,

including information on your national Focal Point?

SUPPORT MECHANISMS

12. How do you ensure that SLAPP targets have easy access to independent, affordable

and individual support and legal assistance from relevant organisations8?

6 The Annex to the Recommendation lists the following examples of provisions of the GDPR which those

trainings should cover: Article 85(2) on exemptions and derogations, Article 12(5) on data subject’s

rights, Article 16 on the right to rectification, Article 17(3)(a) on the right to be forgotten, Article 79(2)

on the protection against forum shopping.

7 Point 23 of the Recommendation provides the following examples or organisations: media professionals,

legal professionals, members of civil society organisations, academics, think thanks, communication

professionals, civil servants, politicians, public authorities and private corporations.

8 Point 24 of the Recommendation provides the following examples of types of organisations: associations

of legal professionals, media and press councils, umbrella associations for human rights defenders,

associations at Union and national level, law firms defending targets of manifestly unfounded or abusive

court proceedings against public participation pro bono, legal clinics of universities and other non-

governmental organisations.

5

13. Did you create a Focal Point as recommended under Point 25 of the Recommendation?

If so, please provide information on this Focal Point. [If not, please explain the reasons

for not having done so.]

14. How do you facilitate the exchange of information and best practices between

organisations that provide guidance and support to SLAPP targets?

DATA COLLECTION

15. Did you ensure that data on manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings against

public consultation initiated in your jurisdiction is collected?

16. Which authority(ies) did you entrust to coordinate the information and report

aggregated data on SLAPPs initiated in your jurisdiction?

17. Please provide information regarding the following data points listed in Point 31 of

the Anti-SLAPP Recommendation (if possible including a link to online publication of

the data):

• the number of manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings against public

participation cases, initiated in the relevant year;

• the number of manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings against public

participation cases dismissed early in the relevant year starting from 2022, both

dismissed on merits and for procedural reasons;

• the number of court proceedings, classified by type of defendant (e.g. journalist,

human rights defender, press outlet);

• the number of court proceedings, classified by type of plaintiff (e.g. politician,

private person, company, whether the plaintiff is a foreign entity);

• figures about acts of public participation on the account of which court proceedings

were launched;

• figures on the estimated amount of initial damages requested by plaintiffs;

• description of the different legal bases employed by plaintiffs and related figures;

• figures on the length of the proceedings, including all instances;

• figures on cross-border elements; and

• as available, other data including on judicial costs of proceedings and, as relevant

and appropriate, relevant figures on historical backgrounds of cases.

18. If you collect other data points not listed in Point 31 of the Anti-SLAPP

Recommendation, please also include those data in your reply.

19. How do you ensure the respect of data protection requirements when collecting and

aggregating those statistics?

Electronically signed on 19/11/2025 21:47 (UTC+01) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121

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