Construction of the value chain in the directive on liability for defective products : a comparison of directive 85/374/EEC and directive 2024/2853

The 20th century has been characterised by the progressive fragmentation of previously centralised production centres into value chains. This new form of production has necessitated, and continues to necessitate, updates to legislation and existing legal constructs, which have not kept pace with changing economic circumstances. One response to this phenomenon has been the EU directive on liability for defective products, which has introduced a new regime of tort liability. The defective product liability regime allows injured persons to claim compensation for damage caused by a defective product not only from the direct seller with whom they have contracted but also from other participants in the value chain. Due to changes in the organisation of production and the increasing importance of distribution through digital tools, the European Commission decided to propose a new draft directive to replace the previous 1985 directive. Following the legislative process, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a common text of the new directive, which was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 18 November 2024, thereby repealing the previous directive. The aim of this article is to analyse the construction of the value chain as presented in both the previous and the newly adopted directives, using progressive digitalisation as a criterion for analysis. Special attention is devoted to those actors in the value chain who appear in the new directive but were not included in the scope of the previous directive.