Moving Beyond the EU’s Court-Centric Legal Opportunity Structure

This paper critiques the European Union’s court-centric legal opportunity (CCLO) model, which prioritises litigation as the dominant mechanism for legal enforcement and contestation. While the CCLO model has been instrumental in advancing EU governance and accountability, it remains exclusionary and inaccessible to many individuals and civil society organisations. The procedural complexity, high costs, and resource-intensive nature of litigation create significant structural barriers, disproportionately affecting marginalised groups and perpetuating systemic inequities. In response, this paper argues for a reconceptualisation of legal opportunity within the EU by shifting focus from litigation to pre-litigation mechanisms. Using the EU Whistleblowing Directive as a case study, it demonstrates how pre-litigation tools can empower bottom-up guardians to safeguard the public interest and enhance accountability outside the courtroom. By centering litigation as the principal mechanism for contestation, the CCLO model restricts both the diversity of actors who can engage with the system and the range of claims that can be effectively advanced. Pre-litigation mechanisms, such as whistleblowing, offer a complementary pathway that broadens access to legal opportunity and expands the potential of strategic legal action. This approach highlights the dynamic interplay between legal opportunity structures and strategic litigation, emphasising how integrating pre-litigation processes into the EU’s legal framework can amplify the impact of legal mobilisation.