Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcasts.

As products have become more complex in the digital age, the European Commission is

proposing new liability rules to better protect consumers against defective products and

the damages they may cause. Want to know more? Stay with us. For nearly 40 years, EU product liability rules

have got us covered in case something goes wrong. For example, if defective airbags were put into a car

and they failed to protect you during an accident. Or if your new bicycle came with a cracked frame and injured you while

riding it? All you have to prove in order to get compensation is that one, the product was defective,

two, it caused damage, and three, a causal link between the damage and the product's defectiveness

existed. But digital products, circular economy business models

and global value chains are challenging the current rules. That's why in September 2022,

the European Commission proposed a revamp to make them fit for the green and digital transition

and increased legal certainty for both consumers and businesses.

So, what would change essentially?

Stefano de Luca follows this file for the European Parliamentary Research Service.

The revised rules reinforce the current well-established ones,

alleviating the burden of proof for victims under certain circumstances,

and the proposal clarifies that software must be considered a product in the scope of the directive

and extends the liability of manufacturers for defective

also to damage related to psychological health and loss or corruption of data.

By expanding the definition of product to include intangible items such as software and AI systems,

the new rules allow for compensation when products like robots, drones or smart home systems are made

unsafe by software updates or AI applications needed to operate the product or when manufacturers

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