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European Community: Council Directive on the Approximation of the Laws, Regulations and Administrative Provisions of the Member States Concerning Liability For Defective Products*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2017

Sandra N. Hurd  and
Frances E. Zollers
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Type
Legislative and Regulations
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 32 , Issue 5 , September 1993 , pp. 1347 - 1356
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1993

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Footnotes

*

[Reproduced from the Official Journal of the European Communities, L 210/29-33, August 7, 1985. The Introductory Note was prepared for International Legal Materials by Sandra N. Hurd, Associate Professor of Law&Public Policy, and Frances E. Zollers, Professor of Law&Public Policy, at the School of Management, Syracuse University. The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Kiebach Center for International Business Studies, Syracuse University, for a grant to underwrite the translation of the eight national laws, promulgated in response to the EC Council Directive, that appear at 32 I.L.M. 1358-1405 (1993). Part I of the U.K. Consumer Protection Act 1987, the section responsive to the EC Product Liability Directive, appears at 32 I.L.M. 1406 (1993).]

References

1 Council Directive of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products, 28 O.J. Eur. Comm. (No. L 210) 29 (1985) [hereinafter Product Liability Directive].

2 Id.

3 Id. at art. 1.

4 See Sandra N. Hurd & Frances E. Zollers, Desperately Seeking Harmony: The European Community's Search for Uniformity in Product Liability Law. 30 AM. Bus. L.J. 35, 47-65 (1992).

5 Proposal for a Council Directive relating to the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products, 19 O.J. Eur. Comm. (No. C 241) 9 (Oct. 14, 1976).

7 Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, March 25, 1957, 298 U.N.T.S. 4 [hereinafter Treaty of Rome].Article 100 provides for the issuance of directives for approximation by the Member States “as directly affect the establishment or functioning of the common market.” Id. at art. 100.

8 Report of the Legal Affairs Committee, as cited in Kathleen M. Nilles, Comment, Defining the Limits of Liability: A Legal and Political Analysis of the European Community Products Liability Directive. 25 Va. J. Int'l L. 729, 750 n.124 (1985).

9 Treaty of Rome, supra note 6, at art. 100.

10 Nilles, supra note 7, at 750 n. 124-25.Specifically, the European Parliament did not accept the first conclusion of the Committee and referred the matter back for reconsideration. Apparently, the Legal Affairs Committee realized that discretion was the better part of valor and returned one year later with a report more in line with the Parliament's view. See Hurd & Zollers, supra note 4, at 39.

11 Nilles, supra note 7, at 750-52.

12 M.C. Griffiths et al., Developments in English Product Liability Law: A Comparisonwith the American System. 62 Tulane L. Rev. 353, 364 (1988).

13 Product Liability Directive, supra note 1, at art. 7(e).

14 Id.at art. 16(1).The threshold is set at $70 million ECUs.

15 Id.at art. 1.

16 A product is defective “when it does not provide the safety which a person is entitled to expect, taking all circumstances into account… .” Id. at art. 6(1).

17 A comment to § 402A provides that a product is defective if it is “dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchases it, with the ordinary knowledge common to the community as to its characteristics.” Restatement(second) Of Torts § 402A, Comment i (1986).

18 Product Liability Directive, supra note 1, at art. 3.

19 Id.

20 Id. at art. 5.

21 Id. at art. 11.

22 Id. at art. 7(d).

23 Heinz J. Dielmann, The European Economic Community's Council Directive on Product Liability. 20 Int'l LAW. 1391, 1397 (1986).

24 Product Liability Directive, supra note 1, at Preamble.

25 In chronological order they are the United Kingdom, Greece, and Italy.

26 Luxembourg, Denmark, Portugal, Germany, The Netherlands, and Belgium.

27 France, Spain, and Ireland.

28 In addition to providing liability for development risks and including a cap on damages, the Directive also permits Member States to include agricultural products within the definition of product.Product Liability Directive, supra note 1, at art. 15(l)(a).

(1) OJ No C 241, 14. 10. 1976. p. 9 and OJ No C 271, 26. 10.1979, p. 3.

(2) OJ No C 127, 21. 5. 1979. p. 61.

(3) OJ No C 114, 7. 5. 1979, p. 15.

(1) OJ No L 379, 30. 12. 1978, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 247, 16. 9. 1984, p. 1.

(1) This Directive was notified to the Member States on 30 July 1985. 1) 1990-1991 Ordinary session Chamber of Representatives Parliamentary documents. Draft law, No. 1262/1 of July 12, 1990. Report No. 1262/5 of November 22, 1990, of M. Hermans. Amendments Nos. 1262/2 to 4. Parliamentary records. Discussion and adoption. Session of November 29, 1990. 1990-1991 Ordinary session. Senate.