Rules on standing hold the power to enable, as well as foreclose, intervention in regulatory processes. As such, they determine whom, and according to which criteria regulatory power may be challenged. This makes standing rules pivotal to any legal system. In the EU context, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has, over the years, been much criticised for its narrow interpretation of direct standing rules of individual applicants. Examining recent case law on standing of individual applicants, focusing on jurisprudence concerning mainly EU environmental law, this article sheds new light on this judicial approach, arguing that the EU court acts according to judicial subsidiarity, that is; reducing CJEU intervention and enabling judicial matters to be resolved closer to the citizens. Following from this, this article shows that attempts to improve access to justice in the EU legal order need to focus on guaranteeing broad national standing rules and bolstering the role of national courts in securing judicial protection of individuals.