Product Liability Directive – Directive (EU) 2024/2853

Subject matter and objective

This Directive lays down common rules on the liability of economic operators for damage suffered by natural persons and caused by defective products, and on…

Scope

1. This Directive shall apply to products placed on the market or put into service after 8 December 2026. 2. This Directive does not apply to free and…

Level of harmonisation

Member States shall not maintain or introduce, in their national law, provisions diverging from those laid down in this Directive, including more stringent or…

Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘product’ means all movables, even if integrated into, or inter-connected with…

Right to compensation

1. Member States shall ensure that any natural person who suffers damage caused by a defective product (the ‘injured person’) is entitled to compensation in…

Damage

1. The right to compensation pursuant to Article 5 shall apply in respect of only the following types of damage: (a) death or personal injury, including…

Defectiveness

1. A product shall be considered defective where it does not provide the safety that a person is entitled to expect or that is required under Union or national…

Economic operators liable for defective products

1. Member States shall ensure that the following economic operators are liable for damage in accordance with this Directive: (a) the manufacturer of a…

Disclosure of evidence

1. Member States shall ensure that, at the request of a person who is claiming compensation in proceedings before a national court for damage caused by a…

Burden of proof

1. Member States shall ensure that a claimant is required to prove the defectiveness of the product, the damage suffered and the causal link between that…

Exemption from liability

1. An economic operator as referred to in Article 8 shall not be liable for damage caused by a defective product if that economic operator proves any of the…

Liability of multiple economic operators

1. Without prejudice to national law concerning rights of contribution or recourse, Member States shall ensure that where two or more economic operators are…

Reduction of liability

1. Without prejudice to national law concerning rights of contribution or recourse, Member States shall ensure that the liability of an economic operator is…

Right of recourse

Where more than one economic operator is liable for the same damage, an economic operator that has compensated the injured person shall be entitled to pursue…

Exclusion or limitation of liability

Member States shall ensure that the liability of an economic operator pursuant to this Directive is not, in relation to the injured person, limited or excluded…

Limitation period

1. Member States shall ensure that a limitation period of three years applies to the initiation of proceedings to claim compensation for damage falling within…

Expiry period

1. Member States shall ensure that an injured person is no longer entitled to compensation pursuant to this Directive upon the expiry of a period of 10 years…

Derogation from development risk defence

1. Member States may, by way of derogation from Article 11(1), point (e), maintain in their legal systems existing measures whereby economic operators are…

Transparency

1. Member States shall publish, in an easily accessible and electronic format, any final judgment delivered by their national courts of appeal or of the…

Evaluation

The Commission shall by 9 December 2030, and every five years thereafter, evaluate the application of this Directive and submit a report to the European…

Repeal and transitional provision

Directive 85/374/EEC is repealed with effect from 9 December 2026. However, it shall continue to apply with regard to products placed on the market or put into…

Transposition

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 9 December 2026. They…

Entry into force

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.