The Product Liability Directive – More than two Decades of Defective Products in Europe

With the introduction of the European Product Liability Directive (85/374/EEC), product liability became a major focal point of judicial attention and academic commentary. The Directive has now been in effect across the European member states for more than twenty-five years and in that period of time it has had considerable impact and become an important instrument in the protection of consumers who suffer damage due to defective products. Over the course of those twenty-five years, numerous important decisions by the courts (including the supreme courts) of the Member States and by the European Court of Justice have given a broad interpretation to the key constitutive elements of the Directive. This article will examine these leading cases, the interpretation they have given to the key definitions of the Directive and their impact on the scope of the Directive. Since it was the global objective of the Directive to approximate the different product liability regimes of the member states, special attention will be given to conflicting judgments.