Europe Dialogues

Europe Dialogues is a series of webinars designed for the European open government community, aiming to connect EU and wider European regional policy priorities with national OGP processes and stakeholders.

• March 18, 2025 | Advancing Civic Space and Media Freedom through ANTI-SLAPPs Legislation
• October 24, 2024 | EU Digital Services Act and AI Act

March 18, 11-12:30 CEST | Advancing Civic Space and Media Freedom through Anti-SLAPPs Legislation

Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are used to censor, intimidate and silence critical voices, often amongst media and civil society,  by burdening them through litigation and requests for manifestly disproportionate remedies. Creating legislative protections against the use of SLAPPs can therefore help countries protect media freedom as well as civic space.

The Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe’s (CASE) report found that the use of SLAPPs has increased year by year in Europe, reaching 161 new cases in 2022. While a study commissioned by the European Parliament confirmed just 47 SLAPP cases across the EU in 2022 and 2023, it concluded that SLAPPs increasingly present a threat to democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and the proper functioning of the European Union. As the EU’s response to this threat, the directive on anti-SLAPPs entered into force on May 6, 2024, giving courts tools to deal with abusive litigation and to deter potential claimants from using this practice. The Directive has purview over cross-border SLAPPs and is thus complemented by both the European Commission’s Recommendation on anti-SLAPP  and the Council of Europe’s Recommendation on Countering the Use of SLAPPs that set out parameters for potential national legislative solutions.

This practical webinar is aimed at exploring how national OGP processes could advance media freedom and civic space, specifically through legislative means to counter SLAPPs. The event is hosted in partnership with the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), a member of CASE.

Speakers:

• Emma Bergmans, Free Press Unlimited & CASE coalition
• Jessica Ní Mhainín, Index of Censorship

Moderators:

• Paul Braithwaite, OGP
• Francesca Fanucci, ECNL
• Tim Hughes, OGP

October 24 | EU Digital Services Act and AI Act

In March 2024, the EU AI Act marked the start of a two-year implementation phase, adding to existing digital governance laws like the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. These initiatives aim to enhance transparency and accountability online. During this webinar, co-hosted by OGP and the Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe (CDT), we explored how open government principles can shape the implementation of these new regulations.