News
Ensuring coherence between the Product Liability Directive (PLD) and EU digital legislation
As the EU advances its Digital Package initiative to simplify and align digital regulation, EJF released a paper outlining how the Product Liability Directive (PLD) can be better integrated into the EU’s wider digital framework. The objective is to improve legal coherence, reduce administrative duplication, and maintain effective consumer protection.
The revised PLD already functions as a digital law, extending liability to software, AI, and connected services. However, it has evolved separately from other EU digital legislation, creating overlapping obligations and inconsistencies.
EJF has identified key provisions where targeted clarifications and guidance could improve predictability and legal certainty across digital laws:
- Evidence disclosure (Article 9): Link PLD disclosure obligations to existing EU compliance repositories (“provide once, use many times”) to avoid duplication;
- Presumptions of defect and causation (Article 10): Ensure compliance with EU safety and digital regulation can rebut presumptions of defect or causation, providing greater legal certainty for businesses;
- Consistent terminology: Harmonise definitions of “product” and “service” across digital legislation, to avoid litigation risks and enhance consistency;
- Expiry period (Article 17): Clarify the application of the 25-year limitation period to digital products, to maintain proportionality and avoid unintended costs and barriers to innovation;
- Consistent national implementation: Promote coherence across Member States’ interpretation by issuing harmonised interpretative guidance or clarifying recitals through this initiative to prevent fragmentation and forum shopping.
The Digital Fitness Check offers a chance to assess the overall coherence and impact of EU digital legislation. EJF’s recommendations call for integrating the PLD into this process to help the Commission identify overlaps, clarify evidentiary links, and ensure liability rules evolve consistently with other digital acts, creating a more balanced and innovation-friendly framework for consumers and businesses alike.
Access the full paper here.
