EU Trends and Developments Contributed by: Hans-Patrick Schroeder, Kristina Weiler, Laura Knoke, Anita Bell and Rixa Kuhmann, Freshfields
• extending the time horizon for claims. At the same time, modernised product safety laws collectively raise the bar for what it means to place a safe product on the EU market. These instruments form a coherent and deliberately interlocked archi - tecture in which regulatory compliance and litigation exposure are directly and explicitly connected. The compliance obligations imposed by the GPSR, the Machinery Regulation, the CRA and the AI Act are not merely regulatory hurdles. They are the eviden - tiary foundation on which liability claims will be built or defended. The revised product safety and product liability frame - works comprehensively address the risks associated with modern, digital products. For AI systems and connected products, the presumptions of defective - ness and causation in cases of scientific and technical complexity mean that manufacturers of the most tech - nologically advanced products face the greatest litiga - tion risk and are also subject to additional or stricter product safety requirements. Product safety and product liability must be treated as two sides of the same coin, governed by the same
documentation, risk assessments and governance structures. Supply chain contracts should be revisited to ensure that compliance responsibilities are clearly allocated between manufacturers, component sup - pliers, software providers, importers and distributors. Insurance contracts should be reviewed to ensure proper coverage. Document retention policies and knowledge management practices should be critically assessed to ensure that businesses can access the key evidence they need to mount the best possible defence against a product liability claim, particularly given that some claims may now be brought up to 25 years after a product has been placed on the market. Finally, businesses are well advised to adopt a proac - tive approach to risk monitoring: • mapping applicable safety and compliance require - ments; • tracking regulatory and governmental develop - ments; • monitoring internal indicators such as: (a) consumer complaints; (b) manufacturing deviations; or (c) the introduction of new processes; and • establishing cross-functional governance bodies that convene regularly to assess emerging risks.
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