For decades, product liability in the EU centred on a relatively straightforward question: did the manufacturer put a defective product on the market? That framework served consumers well in an era of physical goods and simple supply chains. But products have changed. Today’s consumer products are often bundled with software, connected to the internet, and sold through online platforms by sellers based outside the EU. The old rules, adopted nearly 40 years ago in 1985, weren’t built for that reality.
The EU’s response is Directive (EU) 2024/2853, commonly known as the EU Product Liability Directive (“EU PLD“). Member States have until 9 December 2026 to transpose it into national law, but the message is clear: the framework is being modernised to reflect the way products are actually made, distributed, and sold today.
For businesses operating in or selling into the EU, the most consequential change may be found in Article 8, which significantly broadens the range of parties who can be held liable when a product turns out to be defective.
A wider definition of “product” — and a wider circle of liability
The EU PLD pursues a dual strategy to strengthen consumer protection. First, it updates the definition of “product” to capture goods with digital and technological components, i.e., the kind of integrated products that simply didn’t exist when the original liability framework was written. Second, and critically for businesses across the supply chain, it expands who can be held liable.
The thinking is practical: consumers should always be able to identify at least one accountable party they can pursue for compensation, no matter how complex the supply chain behind the product may be.What is actually changing?
Who can be held liable under the new EU PLD?
The manufacturer remains at the centre of the framework, but Article 8 of the EU PLD brings a broader set of economic operators into scope. The parties that may now face liability include:
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The manufacturer of the finished product or component integrated into the final product
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The provider of a related service
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The importer who brings a product manufactured outside the EU into the single market
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The authorised representative of the manufacturer
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The fulfilment service provider handling logistics such as warehousing and shipping
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The distributor of the product
This is a significant expansion. Logistics providers and related-service providers, for example, were not traditionally in the liability picture. Another important change is the treatment of ‘substantial modifications’. Any economic operator that significantly modifies a product outside the control of the original manufacturer can be treated as a manufacturer for liability purposes. In practical terms, if your business change a product after it leaves the factory, whether through physical changes, software updates, or reconfigurations, and that modification contributes to a defect, you may be stepping into the manufacturer’s shoes.
Online platforms: a new category of potentially liable party
Another notable additions is the treatment of online platforms. Under the EU PLD, any platform that enables consumers to enter into distance contracts with traders, and that does not itself fall within one of the other categories of liable operator, can also be held liable, unless it identifies a responsible economic operator established in the EU.
This provision is designed to work alongside the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065) and close a gap that has become increasingly visible as e-commerce has grown: consumers buying products through platforms often struggle to identify anyone they can hold accountable when something goes wrong.
There is an important nuance here. Recital 38 of the EU PLD clarifies that platforms acting in a purely intermediary role — simply connecting buyers with sellers — are exempt from this liability. However, the exemption disappears where the platform’s conduct leads the average consumer to believe the product is being supplied by the platform itself, or by a trader acting under the platform’s authority or control.
For platform operators: how your platform presents products, brands, and seller relationships to consumers will matter enormously. The line between “intermediary” and “apparent supplier” is drawn by consumer perception, and getting on the wrong side of it means potential exposure to product liability claims.
Similarly, if another party in the supply chain presents itself as a manufacturer, for instance, by using a name, brand, or other distinctive sign on a product that gives consumers the impression it was involved in manufacturing or is responsible for the product, that party can be treated as liable under the EU PLD.
What this means in practice
The overarching design principle behind the EU PLD’s liability framework is consumer access to redress. Where supply chains are long, cross-border, and complex, the Directive creates multiple points of accountability so that the consumer is not left without a party to pursue.
For businesses, this calls for a clear-eyed assessment of where they sit in the supply chain and what steps they need to take now. Key priorities include maintaining robust records of upstream suppliers and EU-based economic operators, reviewing how products and brands are presented to consumers, and understanding the specific conditions under which their category of operator may attract liability.
If you would like to discuss how these changes may affect your business, please get in touch with us.
Image credit: Freepik
