Aiming to respond to the increase in online shopping (including from outside the EU), agreement has been reached between the European Parliament and the Union’s Member States on a revised Product Liability Directive.
This will ensure that there is always an EU-based business, such as a manufacturer, importer or their authorised representative, that can be held liable for a product that caused damage, even if the product was not bought in the Union.
The new legislation will simplify the burden of proof for the person requiring compensation, who would normally have to prove that the product was defective and that this caused the damage suffered. For example, the defectiveness may be presumed by a court in case the claimant faces excessive difficulties in particular due to technical or scientific complexity and the product is likely to be defective.
To further help victims of damage with their compensation claim, they will be able to request that the court order the business to disclose the “necessary and proportionate” evidence.
The revised Directive will make it possible to get compensation not only for material damage, such as destruction of property, but also for non-material losses, including medically recognised damage to psychological health.
It will also be possible to claim compensation following the destruction or corruption of data that are not used for professional purposes (including the deletion of files from a hard drive).
Negotiators also agreed on an extended liability period of 25 years in exceptional cases when symptoms are slow to emerge. The injured person will still be able to get compensation after this period if the proceeding was initiated within the given period.
A spokesman for the European Parliament said: “We needed this revision to adapt the liability regime to the new legislation, and to new and innovative products.”
These agreed rules update the existing Directive on the liability of defective products, which is now almost 40 years old. It provides an additional layer of consumer protection in the EU on top of national liability regimes.
When it comes to AI technology, consumers will also be protected by fault-based rules in the upcoming AI Liability Directive, which is currently being examined by the Parliament.
