Essentials – clear and brief

Product Liability

The Product Liability Directive 85/374/EEC applies to any product marketed in the European Economic Area (EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and establishes an EU-wide regime under which the producer is liable if a product is defective and causes injury or damage to consumers.

Why

In its latest yearly report (May 2018) on the application of the Directive, the European Commission concluded “the Product Liability Directive continues to be an adequate tool.” However, it also acknowledged that the Directive is not perfect and that given the ubiquity of digital products and services now available to consumers or forming part of the supply chain, “its effectiveness is hampered by concepts, such as ‘product’, ‘producer’, ‘defect’ or ‘damage’, that could be more effective in practice.”

Technological revolution affecting consumer products, exponential developments in hardware and software engineering, the rapid take-up of digital marketing, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, robotics and cybersecurity inter alia, require the concepts on which the Directive was drafted to be re-evaluated.

How

The European Commission has set up an Expert Group to investigate these issues, which is working in two sub-groups:

  • The 'product liability formation' to provide expertise and assistance to the Commission in drawing up guidance on the Directive;
  • The 'new technologies formation' to assess the implications of emerging digital technologies for the wider liability frameworks at EU and national level.

Where do we stand

The European Commission conducted a first consultation in July 2021 and gathered feedback regarding its roadmap on the revision of the Product Liability Directive. It opened a second targeted public consultation in October 2021. EJF contributed to both those consultations. The Commission plans to adopt a proposal of the revision on the 28th of September, 2022.

In parallel, the European Commission unveiled in April 2021 its Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) which has undergone the scrutiny of both co-legislators, the Council and the European Parliament. In February and March 2022, the European Parliament’s JURI, CULT and ITRE Committees presented their draft reports on the file.

It is for now unclear whether the Product Liability Directive will be revised separately, or if some of it will be absorbed by the upcoming AI Act.

Topics

Representative Actions

One of the main objectives of the European Commission through this proposal is to allow each and every EU citizen to have compensatory collective redress tools at national level.

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Members

Join EJF

Our services are based on three main pillars: policy and legal intelligence, research and academic input, and communication of key messages.

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Mission

Goals

EJF’s goal is to ensure that the Directive on Representative Actions will build a coherent and harmonized civil redress system architecture in Europe.

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Recent

Latest News

Europe is at a cross-roads for product liability rules. Following the proposal on a New Product Liability Directive, EJF and other European organizations urge policymakers, in a joint statement, to consider key issues such as protection against malicious mass-claims and new rules on burden of proof, to ensure a balanced and effective product liability regime that benefits both businesses and consumers. The proposed revision of the PLD, as it stands, would introduce radical changes in the EU legal landscape and it may indeed have unintended consequences for Europe's competitiveness and national justice systems. PLD could signal another move towards a litigation culture in the EU that serves primarily the economic interests of private third-party funders as well as placing an extra burden on already-stretched national court systems and state resources. Let's work together to protect European competitiveness and consumer rights via fair, effective and efficient civil rights systems in the EU.

Read more in our Joint Statement below.

 

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