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Liability for defective products

The new Product Liability Directive updates and adapts the EU’s liability rules for new technologies, ensuring better protection for victims and greater legal certainty for economic operators.

The Product Liability Directive ensures that victims can claim compensation from manufacturers when they suffer damage caused by a defective product.

This directive is based on 2 main principles

  • the manufacturer has to compensate the damage caused by a defective product of theirs
  • the victim has to prove the product’s defectiveness, the damage that was caused and establish that this defectiveness was the cause of the damage

Objectives of the revision

Fit for the digital age

Ensure the rules are future-proof and adapted for cases involving any type of product, from traditional products, to medical products and pharmaceuticals, to the newest technologies like artificial intelligence.

Fit for global value chains

Ensure there is always an EU-based liable party from whom a victim can claim compensation, even when the manufacturer itself is not based in the EU.

Better protection for victims and legal certainty

Provide new tools for requesting evidence in court so that both parties are on an equal footing, and alleviate the burden of proof where needed.

Who is entitled to compensation?

Any person who has suffered a damage caused by a defective product (e.g. the owner of the product, a bystander, family member, etc.) can bring a claim before a national court.

While the Product Liability Directive does not cover situations in which the victim is a company, some EU countries have established similar rules for companies.

What types of damage must be compensated?

The rules under the directive are applicable from the moment one of the main damages have been suffered, namely

  • death or personal injury, which includes physical and psychological harm
  • damage to property
  • destruction or corruption of data

The victim is entitled to claim compensation for any of the main types of damage and all the losses resulting from them.

Who can be held liable?

The manufacturer of the defective product is the primary person from whom a victim can claim compensation. 

Nevertheless, in various instances the manufacturer of the product is not based in the EU. While a non-EU based manufacturer remains liable under PLD, a victim can claim compensation against these other liable persons established in the EU

  • the importer or the authorised representative
  • the fulfilment service provider, in the absence of an importer or authorised representative

In order to know who the EU-based liable party is, the victim can request this information from the distributor of the defective product.

In the absence of an EU-based liable party or a response within 1 month from the request for information, the victim can seek compensation from the distributor itself.

Online platforms under PLD

The new rules clarify that online platforms can be held liable when they act, in respect of the defective product, as one of the economic operators as defined by the new directive (i.e. manufacturer, importer, authorised representative, fulfilment service provider or distributor).

Online platforms acting as a mere intermediary for the defective product can still be held liable under specific conditions in line with the Digital Services Act (DSA). In such a case, the online platform that merely intermediates the sale is subject to the same obligation as the distributor (see above).

Products and defectiveness

All products are covered by the new rules regardless of their type (e.g. traditional products, raw materials, digital products), as long as they have been placed on the EU market.

Under the new Product Liability Directive, a product is to be considered defective where the product does not provide the safety that a person is entitled to expect from it, or what is required under law.

Software and AI systems

PLD's rules specifically clarify that all types of software are covered by the new directive, including applications, operating systems and AI-systems. 

Manufacturers can be held liable for any defect that existed at the moment their software or AI-system was released. This includes defects that became apparent after their release, as a result of updates, upgrades or a machine-learning feature. 

Modified products

The new rules establish that a product that has been substantially modified (e.g. by a process of remanufacturing), is considered to be a new product. The person that has made the modification becomes a manufacturer.

How long is the victim entitled to compensation for?

Economic operators remain liable for their defective products for a period of 10 years after the product was placed on the market. In certain health-related cases, where the damage takes longer to appear, this period is extended to 25 years. 

Victims have 3 years to bring the claim for compensation before a national court.

Other novelties in PLD

Both the claimant and the defendant in a product liability court case can request access to evidence, provided this is proportionate and necessary for the case.

To ensure transparency, national supreme and appeal courts are required to publish their judgments of product liability cases. The Commission will create an EU database to make these decisions easily accessible to legal practitioners, academics and the public at large. 

What's next?

The new Product Liability Directive entered into force on 8 December 2024. EU countries will have until 9 December 2026 to transpose this directive into national law.

PLD will apply to products placed on the market as of 9 December 2026. The 1985 directive remains applicable for products placed on the market before that date. 

The 1985 directive

The first Product Liability Directive was adopted in 1985, establishing the EU liability framework that ensured that victims of defective products could claim compensation from the producer in case of harm. The scope of this directive was extended in 1999 to include agricultural products.

The 1985 directive applies to any products put into circulation in the EU, including European Economic Area (EEA). The Commission clarified in 1988 that the product liability also covered software.

Victims can claim compensation for any physical damage suffered or damage to any item of property of a value of more than €500, and limited to those intended for private use or consumption.

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