Often referred to as ‘Guardian of the Treaties’, one of the core missions of the European Commission is to enforce EU law.

The European Ombudsman is an independent European body in charge of conducting inquiries about cases of maladministration by the European Union public administration (EU Institutions, Bodies, Offices and Agencies).

In the European Parliament, the Committee on Petitions (PETI) is in charge of receiving, considering and following up on the petitions submitted by EU Citizens and organisations. Petitions can be submitted to call the attention of the Parliament on a subject that affects them directly and falls within the EU’s field of activity.

Equality Bodies are independent public organisations that play a central role in implementing, applying and enforcing EU and national equality law at the national level

SOLVIT is an online and free of charge service to find solutions to problems related to the breach of  EU citizens’ cross-border rights by public authorities, be it local, regional or national. SOLVIT offers a faster, informal and alternative mechanism to solve breaches in legislation instead of starting a court case, submitting a formal complaint to the Commission or launching a petition.

The European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) is a pan-European organisation with 29 centres and 150 legal experts that help consumers in the EU, Norway and Iceland get redress when their rights under EU consumer law are breached

Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (ADR) are an out-of-court mechanism that allows consumers to resolve disputes with the trader thanks to the intervention of an impartial third party

National Enforcement Bodies (NEB) are public bodies nominated by Member States to verify that transport operators in air, rail, water, bus and coach respect the rights of passengers.

Audiovisual National Regulatory Authorities enforce the rights related to discrimination and accessibility on audiovisual media.

National Regulatory Authorities enforce the European Electronic Communications Code. The Code is a directive that aims to set an EU-level legal framework to coordinate national legislation on electronic communications networks and services. This covers telephony services, the single european emergency number 112 and basic internet access.

National courts play a central role in the enforcement of EU law, as they are obliged to implement EU law and protect the rights of the individuals under them.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the judicial institution of the European Union. Its role is to ensure that European law  is interpreted and applied in a uniform manner and that EU countries and EU institutions comply with EU law.

The European Small Claims Procedure is a judicial enforcement mechanism that allows you to bring cases to court over a civil or trade dispute (e.g. you did not receive your order, or your flight was cancelled), with a cross-border element

Your Europe Advice is an online legal advice service provided by the European Citizens Action Service (ECAS). The team consists of about 60 lawyers who cover all 24 official EU languages and are familiar both with EU law and national laws in EU countries

Pro bono refers to free provision of legal services, including litigation, by individual lawyers or organisations. Such services free of charge are normally aimed at individuals or organisations who don’t have the resources to afford them. This could include, for example, activists, asylum seekers and persons with disabilities and their representative organisations.

The main goal of strategic litigation is to use the case of a particular client to bring about broader social, economic and political change. This can be done by setting a precedent for the outcome in similar cases, by raising public awareness or by putting pressure on relevant actors to take measures to prevent, among others, discrimination

Collective (or Class) action is the practice of allowing individuals affected by a common harm to go to court together and to have a professional litigate on their behalf.

Complementary to pro bono services or legal advice services, access to justice can be facilitated through legal aid systems.  Available in all Member States, such systems allow those with insufficient resources to meet the costs of a court case or legal representation.