Product Liability Reforms in the UK and Europe – a changing landscape

2022 and 2023 has seen the beginning of 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 arisen from the development of emerging technologies and the use of AI. However, there has also been significant legislative developments with the EC’s proposal to vary the EU Product Liability Directive (85/374/EEC) in September 2022 and July 2023. These proposals have the potential to change the product liability litigation landscape significantly.

Despite Brexit, the UK continues to follow the same direction of travel as the EU with the recent announcement of the UK Product Safety Review on 3 August 2023. 

The proposals for a change to the existing product liability regime in the EU and UK are discussed in this article.

Click here to see the position in Europe and the UK.