The European Parliament’s Committees on Legal Affairs (JURI) and Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) approved, on Monday 9 October, their negotiating position on the new Product Lability Directive by an overwhelming majority (33 votes in favour, 2 against, no abstentions). The seven compromise amendments were adopted.
This directive, presented by the Commission in September 2022, aims to update the civil liability rules established in 1985 and adapt them to the challenges of the digital age and the circular economy (see EUROPE 13031/10). It “aims at striking the right balance between the need to remain an effective instrument for victims injured by defective products, and the legal certainty economic operators deserve in a fast changing market characterised today by digitalisation, circular economy and global value chains”, explained Pascal Arimont (EPP, Belgian, co-rapporteur for the JURI committee, in a press release.
These words echo those of Vlad Botoș (Renew Europe, Romanian), co-rapporteur for the IMCO committee. “We have succeeded in integrating all the key elements that are dear to the various political groups “, he said.
The text advocated by MEPs stipulates that if a defective product is purchased outside the EU, a company established within the Union can be held liable for the damage. If no company can be identified, victims will nevertheless be entitled to compensation through national schemes.
MEPs extended the types of damage eligible for compensation to include physical damage, medically certified psychological damage and the irreversible loss or corruption of data. However, free open-source software will be excluded from the scope of the legislation.
The JURI and IMCO Committees recommend simplifying the compensation procedure for consumers, making it easier to provide proof of a defect and its link to damage. In particular, the minimum damages threshold of €500 has been abolished, facilitating access to justice.
In the case of complex products, such as artificial intelligence systems, the onus will be on the defendant to prove that it is highly probable that the product was defective and that this defect caused the damage.
Safeguards have also been introduced to protect confidentiality when presenting evidence. Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques (S&D, Portuguese), shadow rapporteur in the JURI committee, welcomed this last point, which was widely supported by the Social Democrats. “This is a major win to future-proof this legislation and to protect European consumers from damages arising from complex digital technologies”, she said.
The approved text stresses the need to consider the changing nature of damage. The liability period has therefore been extended from 20 to 30 years in exceptional cases.
Now that the mandate has also been unanimously adopted by MEPs, the interinstitutional negotiations with the Member States (see EUROPE 13201/21) can begin. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)