Understanding the Product Liability Directive

Directive (EU) 2024/2853 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on liability for defective products and repealing Council Directive 85/374/EEC (Text with EEA relevance)

• To support the proper functioning of the internal market and ensure high protection for consumers and individuals by establishing common rules on the liability for damage caused by defective products, including software, operating systems and applications and AI systems, and on compensation for such damage.

• Member States and national courts

• Claimants, defendants and AI system providers in the context of non-contractual fault-based civil law claims for damages

• Product manufacturers (including AI system providers and software developers and producers)

• Manufacturer's authorized representatives

• Product importers

• Product distributors

• Fulfillment service providers

• Right to compensation for injured persons who suffer damage caused by a defective product (Article 5).
• The injured party may require the manufacturer to provide evidence of the defective nature of the product (disclosure of evidence), respecting the principles of necessity and proportionality (Article 9).
• Presumption of defectiveness when the manufacturer refuses to provide the documentation required; when the product does not comply with the mandatory safety requirements established in national or European regulations; or when the damage is caused by an obvious malfunction of the product in normal or foreseeable use (Article 10).
• Presumption of a causal link for cases where technical or scientific complexity makes it excessively difficult for the injured party to prove a product's defectiveness (Article 10).