New Product Liability Directive – Massive Duties For Industry

The new Product Liability Directive ("PLD") has passed the legislative process, was published in the Official Journal on 18 November 2024 and will enter into force on 8 December 2024+ 20 days (for the draft initiative, see our article "Tougher rules for product liability in Europe").

Starting point

The national legislator has two years to implement the considerably stricter harmonised European law on product liability into a new German product liability act which will replace the current German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz).

The reform of the Product Liability Directive was driven by the European legislator's recognition of the need to adapt existing legislation to new technologies, including artificial intelligence, new business models in the circular economy and new global supply chains.