"Michel Forst UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders under the Aarhus Convention"

[...] In accordance with my mandate as set out in decision VII/9 of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention, I make the following comments on the current text of the draft Directive, including the amendments proposed in the Report of the European Parliament published on 29 June 2023 (the Parliament’s Report), and the General Approach of the Council of the European Union agreed on 9 June 2023:

1. Welcome the European Union’s timely and necessary legislative proposal [...]
2. Include explicit references to “environmental defenders” in the Directive [...]
3. Delete the Council’s proposed recital 4a concerning “bad faith” public participation [...]
4. Clarify definition of “abusive court proceedings” [...]
5. Broaden the substantive scope of the Directive [...]
   1. Retaining, and extending, the definition of “cross-border implications” [...]
   2. The inclusion of pending SLAPPs [...]
6. Retain key procedural safeguards, including early dismissal procedures [...]
7. Provide extensive support to victims [...]
8. Take a holistic approach to protection against SLAPPs [...]
9. Require early transposition of the Directive [...]