Product Liability Directive Conference

In September 2022, the European Commission published a proposal for a new directive on liability for defective products, with the intent of revising and replacing the existing Product Liability Directive, adopted in 1985. On 14 December 2023, the Parliament and the Council announced that they have reached a political agreement on the new rules. 

The existing proposal importantly expands the definition of “product”, adds to the list of liable parties, and it alleviates the burden of proof for victims under certain circumstances. Next to important innovations, some things also remain (seemingly) the same as under the 1985 directive. Notably, the standard for defectiveness is unchanged.

The new and improved regime is worth studying from a variety of perspectives, and a core group from Maastricht University, joined by a select number of academics from other universities, can make a significant contribution to shaping the academic debate on what will soon become the new Product Liability Directive. During a two-day conference, this PLD-group will cover all of the essential doctrinal questions raised by the new product liability directive: liable parties, defectiveness, causation, damage and compensation, defences, temporal scope and time limits. Moreover, the PLD-group will open the field to comparative approaches, in particular with the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as to sectorial approaches, i.e. the circular economy, AI-powered medical devices, and more general theoretical and normative approaches. See for a program [link to the program]