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This article presents a political analysis of the Court of Justice, paying particular attention to its role in the development of the Community legal system. It is predicated on the view that the Court seeks to develop and maintain certain institutional prerogatives, in this case particularly concerning the Community legal system, which has developed in some surprising directions from the framework legal system in the Treaty of Rome. However, even in this area, it is a mistake to depict the Court as wholly in control of its environment. Instead, the Court should be seen as acting in an environment made up of other institutions and interests. Borrowing from a characterization of the Commission (Cram 1993), this article depicts the Court as a ‘purposeful opportunist’.