The cumulative value of opt-out class actions across Europe's highest-risk jurisdictions has surpassed €200 billion, and filings have resumed growth after a one-year dip, according to CMS's European Class Action Report 2026.

As reported by Scottish Legal News, the number of class actions filed across Europe rose to 107 in 2025 from 99 in 2024, still below the 2023 peak but pointing to renewed activity. In the UK, the total value of class actions climbed to €179.52 billion from €159.55 billion. Across the three leading opt-out jurisdictions — the UK, the Netherlands and Portugal — the combined value of opt-out claims reached €203.45 billion, up from €173.09 billion.

The growth since 2020 is steeper still. UK opt-out claim values have risen almost fivefold, from €21.65 billion to €101.66 billion, while the three-jurisdiction total has increased nearly tenfold from €22.52 billion.

Consumer and competition claims remained the largest category at 37% of filings, with product liability and personal injury at 14% and data protection at 13%. CMS expects the EU Product Liability Directive's implementation to broaden the scope for claims involving software and AI systems.

Kenny Henderson, a partner at CMS, said the €200 billion figure "would have been unthinkable just a few years ago," and that for large corporates operating in Europe, class actions are "an established and increasingly interconnected litigation risk." The report identifies litigation funding as a principal area to watch, noting that courts across Europe are paying closer attention to the relationship between funders and claimants, with significant judicial guidance expected in the coming years.

Pinsent Masons has warned that a new opt-out consumer class action regime in England and Wales could end up serving claimant law firms and litigation funders more than the consumers it is meant to compensate.

As reported by Out-Law, the firm has submitted its response to the Law Commission's scoping questionnaire on consumer class actions ahead of the 30 October deadline. The Law Commission is examining, at the UK government's request, whether a dedicated collective regime would strengthen consumer law enforcement; unlike competition claims, consumer law claims currently have no bespoke mass claims mechanism.

In its submission, the firm questioned whether such a regime would address a genuine unmet need. "Far from enabling access to justice, prioritising litigation over more appropriate mechanisms of redress could result in an explosion of speculative consumer law claims being brought for-profit with little to no benefits for those represented," it said. "This approach provides little in the way of justice, but large rewards for funders and lawyers."

The firm also argued that creating any new opt-out regime now would be premature, given that substantive consumer law enforcement reforms only took effect last year and that a separate consultation on the competition opt-out regime remains ongoing. On the existing regime's record, it said damages are "accessed by only a small number, and these damages are dwarfed by the returns for funders and lawyers," cautioning against "conflating 'access to justice' with 'access to litigation'."

If a regime does proceed, Pinsent Masons proposed guardrails including stricter regulation of third-party litigation funding, robust certification rules, an early strike out mechanism for abusive claims, and costs controls.