Product Liability and the Product Liability Directive – Preparing for Change

2024 saw significant changes in the product liability landscape across the UK and Europe with the changes to the regulatory and civil liability landscape in the wake of BREXIT and with the EU and UK Governments and Regulators seeking to modernise existing laws and regulations that have been in place for over 35 years.

Part of this change has been because of development of emerging technologies and use of AI. However, there was also significant legislative change with the entry into force of the new Product Liability Directive in December 2024.

These changes have the potential to change the product liability litigation landscape, paving the way for future large scale domestic and cross-border consumer group actions against manufacturers and suppliers of allegedly defective or non-compliant goods.

In this presentation, we will discuss the implementation of the new Product Liability Directive in Europe, the likely direction for travel in the UK and the implications that this will have on the defensibility of claims.

At the end of this session, delegates will be able to:

• Explain the existing product liability regime
• Summarise the changes implemented by the new Product Liability Directive
• List tactics for preparing for those changes