On 8 June 2026, the European Justice Forum, the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), and Danish Industry (DI) hosted a roundtable discussion on “Consumer Protection and Product Liability Challenges in the EU – Lessons to Be Learned from the Nordics”. The event brought together representatives of European institutions, industry stakeholders, legal experts, and policy specialists to discuss emerging challenges at the intersection of technology, liability, and access to justice.
Digital technologies and artificial intelligence are increasingly shaping consumer markets and industrial value chains across Europe. As AI-enabled and software-driven products become more prevalent, long-standing liability frameworks are being recalibrated to address new forms of risk, causation, and responsibility. Against this backdrop, the discussion focused on the EU’s revised Product Liability Directive (PLD) and the evolving policy debate on Third-Party Litigation Funding (TPLF), examining how these developments are redefining the legal environment in which innovation, consumer protection, and access to justice interact.
Drawing on Nordic experiences in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, participants explored how the modernisation of product liability rules is being transposed in highly digitalised and innovation-oriented economies. At the same time, the growing relevance of litigation funding mechanisms prompted discussion on legal predictability and transparency, as well as fairness and proportionality in litigation.
The meeting provided a platform for exchanging views on how the PLD and TPLF may influence claim initiation, enforcement strategies, and business exposure, including for SMEs operating across borders. Participants also considered how these developments interact with broader regulatory and policy frameworks and what lessons can be drawn from the Nordic approach to balancing innovation, consumer protection, and effective access to justice.
Agenda
Registration
For any inquiries, please contact the Policy Manager, Seyide Direk, s.direk@europeanjusticeforum.org.
