Strategic Litigation and EU Interest Groups: Actors, Strategies and Outcomes

Abstract

Strategic litigation has emerged as a critical tool in the repertoire of European interest groups, transforming how civil society organizations, businesses, and advocacy networks engage with EU policymaking. While litigation strategies have been extensively studied in the US context since the 1960s, systematic analysis of EU interest group litigation still remains fragmented (Bouwen and McCown 2007; Naurin and Hofmann 2021; Cebulak et al. 2025). This panel aims at bringing together scholars examining the evolution and determinants of litigation strategies employed by EU interest groups both from a theoretical and empirical point of view. Four interconnected dimensions of strategic litigation in the EU context are at the centre of the papers presented in this panel: - First, papers that map the landscape of litigants and policy domains, identifying which types of interest groups – firms, business federations, NGOs, hybrid organizations - turn to EU courts and in which sectors litigation has become most prevalent. - Second, studies focusing on the relationship between lobbying and diverse litigation strategies of interest groups in influencing policy-making at the EU level. - Third, scholars that analyse the factors determining litigation success, examining how organizational resources, legal expertise, case selection strategies, and judicial context shape outcomes. - Forth, studies opening the black-box of litigation further and focus on the forms of lawyering, such as the distinction between cause and mainstream lawyering. This panel contributes to broader debates in EU studies by analyzing a specific aspect of the judicialization of European politics through studying strategic choices that interest groups make when navigating multi-level governance structures. Evidence suggests interest groups increasingly combine litigation with traditional lobbying tactics, challenging the ‘political disadvantage theory’ which assumes only excluded outsiders litigate. The panel welcomes papers employing diverse methodological approaches - quantitative analyses of litigation patterns, comparative case studies across policy sectors (environmental law, digital rights, migration, data protection), surveys of organizational strategies, lawyering and theoretical contributions examining the relationship between litigation and other forms of political mobilization. Papers may address sectoral variation in litigation strategies, the role of ‘repeat players’ and organizational learning, the impact of legal opportunity structures, or the downstream effects of strategic litigation on EU law and policy development. By systematically examining EU interest group litigation this panel aims to advance our understanding of legal mobilization, judicial politics, and interest representation in contemporary European governance, bridging insights from legal studies, political science, and sociology of law.

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