BRUSSELS, April 27 (Reuters) – The European Union executive proposed on Wednesday laws to curb excessive litigation aimed at silencing critical journalists and rights advocates by governments and businesses, a form of harassment it said was on the rise from Croatia to Poland. In its latest health check of the state of democracy in the 27-nation bloc, the Brussels-based European Commission said that last year such so-called SLAPPs – or strategic lawsuits against public participation – were “a serious concern”. “Manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings against public participation are a recent but increasingly prevalent phenomenon in the European Union,” the Commission said on Wednesday in proposing new legal remedies for the bloc.