TRANS EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA (TGEU)

Legal Update for their Landmark Rights Guide 

In 2015, Transgender Europe and Central Asia (TGEU) published a guide that would go on to shape how a generation of activists, lawyers, and equality bodies understood the law. Titled TGEU’s Activist’s Guide on Trans People’s Rights under EU Law: An Overview of Current EU Law Covering Gender Reassignment, Gender Identity and Gender Expression, it was the first publication to systematically map how five EU anti-discrimination directives could be read to protect trans people – at a time when very few legal texts said so explicitly. For ten years, it has been a reference tool cited across the continent, from courtrooms to community training.

A decade is a long time in EU law. Since 2015, the directives TGEU relied on have been tested, interpreted, and in some cases superseded. New instruments have entered into force. And the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has handed down rulings that reshape what protection actually looks like in practice – most significantly its April 2026 judgment in Commission v Hungary (C-769/22), in which the Court found that Hungary’s restrictions on LGBTI+ content breached not only specific directives but the European Union’s founding values under Article 2 TEU, and Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights on human dignity.

Recognising that its flagship guide needed more than a light edit, TGEU – the Europe and Central Asia-wide, trans-led umbrella organisation representing over 200 member organisations in more than 50 countries – set out to produce a substantially updated second edition: Know Your Rights: How EU Directives Protect Trans People. The new edition addresses recent legal developments including the Equality Bodies Directives (2024/1499 and 2024/1500), the Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970), and the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence (2024/1385) – while also revisiting how older instruments, including Council Directive 79/7/EEC and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (2010/13/EU), continue to apply in light of recent case law.

Producing a legally rigorous guide of this kind takes more than policy expertise, it requires close, technical legal review. TGEU turned to Pro Publico, the pan-European pro bono clearinghouse, to find a partner able to stress-test the draft against the letter of EU law.

The ask: accuracy, and a trans rights lens

TGEU’s brief was precise. Its team had already drafted the full 16-page guide, flagging specific sections where they wanted external legal input. What they needed was a partner to identify legal inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or gaps – checking that every claim about what the directives require would hold up to scrutiny – while also bringing a critical eye to how the law was being read and applied from a trans rights perspective.

A global law firm, matched through Pro Publico’s network, took on the review pro bono. Over the course of the collaboration, the firm’s team worked through the directives cited, checked the guide’s account of the CJEU’s reasoning in Commission v Hungary, and returned detailed comments and analysis on the sections TGEU had flagged as most legally complex.

“The pro bono provider fully met our expectations”

TGEU’s own account of the collaboration speaks to what a well-matched pro bono partnership can deliver: “This detailed legal analysis allowed us to revise and finalise the guide in a way that is more legally robust and clear. The pro bono provider fully met our expectations, providing a thorough report with detailed comments and valuable perspectives.”

That combination – rigorous legal accuracy checking, delivered with responsiveness and care for the subject matter – is exactly what makes pro bono support valuable to organisations working at the frontline of rights advocacy. A guide like this one will be read by activists navigating hostile legal environments and by lawyers building cases; getting the law right, in language communities can actually use, matters enormously.

Why this collaboration matters

The updated guide lands at a pivotal legal moment. The CJEU’s ruling in Commission v Hungary was the first time the Court found a standalone breach of the EU’s founding values under Article 2 TEU – a judgment with implications well beyond the case that produced it. Equipping TGEU’s network of over 200 member organisations with a legally precise, up-to-date guide means that lawyers, equality bodies, and activists across the EU have a reliable tool for understanding exactly where trans people’s rights stand under Union law, and how to argue for them.

It’s also a clear example of what pro bono legal support can do beyond the courtroom. Not every impactful legal collaboration involves litigation or a formal case; some of the most far-reaching work is quieter – checking, strengthening, and future-proofing a resource that will be used by hundreds of organisations for years to come.

Pro Publico matches civil society organisations across Europe with law firms offering free legal expertise, from case litigation to policy review and, as in this case, technical legal accuracy checks. If your organisation needs legal support to strengthen its advocacy work, get in touch.

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