Council adopts new Product Liability Directive

Today, the European Council adopted the new Product Liability Directive (“PLD”, see press release). This marks the final step in a legislative process that began on 28 September 2022, when the EU Commission issued a proposal to revise the nearly four-decade old EU product liability rules (read more in our blog post).

The new PLD will significantly increase the product liability risks for manufacturers, importers, distributors, and other service providers. Not only does the new PLD broaden the range of in-scope products and economic operators, but it also introduces new presumptions of defect and causation, a new regime for disclosure of evidence, and a longer expiry period in case of latent personal injury (see our previous client alert for more details).

Following this adoption by the European Council, the new PLD will be published in the Official Journal of the EU. The publication process may take approximately two to three weeks. The new PLD will enter into force on the 20th day following this publication. EU Member States have to transpose the new PLD into their domestic legislation within the subsequent 24 months (i.e. by the end of 2026).