FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Diane Bandon-Tourret and Agathe Clarac, LexCase
3. Recent Policy Changes and Outlook 3.1 Trends in Product Liability and Product Safety Policy Following the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2023/988 in May 2023 on general product safety, which applies from 13 December 2024, Article 2 of Law No 2024- 364 of 22 April 2024, containing various provisions for adapting to EU law in the fields of economics, finance, ecological transition, criminal law, social law and agri - culture (known as the DDADUE Law), transposed the measures requiring adaptation of French law, in par - ticular the higher penalties for product recalls now pro - vided for in Article L. 452-5-1 of the Consumer Code (five years’ imprisonment and a fine of EUR600,000, which may be increased to 10% of the average annual turnover of the operator in question). From 17 February 2024, new obligations set out in the European Digital Services Act (DSA) of 19 October 2022 will apply to online marketplaces to ensure that: • sellers are identified; • information on products sold is more complete; and • measures to recall non-compliant or dangerous products are more effectively relayed. These obligations will be monitored by the DGCCRF. The General Product Safety Regulation also creates new obligations specific to online marketplaces, including making available single points of contact for direct communication for market surveillance authori - ties and for the public. Law No 2020-105 of 10 February 2020 on the fight against waste and the circular economy (known as the “AGEC Law”) introduced a reparability index for several product categories, which will become a sus - tainability index, with additional criteria. The durability index will initially apply to televisions (from 1 Octo - ber 2024), then to washing machines (from 1 January 2025). Law No 2025-188 of 27 February 2025, aiming at pro - tecting people from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substanc - es (PFAS)-related risks, introduces, from 1 January 2025, a prohibition to import, export or commercial -
Answer to question 2 The CJEU has ruled that the three-year period begins to run as soon as the victim has sufficient knowledge of the damage suffered, the alleged fault and the iden - tity of the producer, without it being necessary for the damage to have become final within the meaning of domestic law. The French practice of having the limitation period run from the date of consolidation (First Civil Chamber, 15 May 2024, No 22-23.985; and First Civil Chamber, 5 July 2023, No 22-18.914), particularly in cases of personal injury, is therefore not in line with the Direc - tive. With regard to progressive conditions, the CJEU specifies that the three-year limitation period applies and states that it runs from the date on which the injured party became aware or should reasonably have become aware of the damage, the defect and the identity of the economic operator. The progression of the damage over time does not permit an indefinite postponement of the starting point. Also, once the victim has had, or should reason - ably have had, sufficient knowledge of the damage, the defect and the producer, the three-year period begins to run. Subsequent aggravations may be com - pensated for within the same action, but do not, in principle, give rise to a new limitation period. Answer to question 3 The CJEU begins by recalling the nature of the ten- year period provided for in Article 11 of Directive 85/374 (Article 1245-15 of the Civil Code), which it describes as a limitation period, upon the expiry of which the producer’s liability ceases unless legal pro - ceedings have been brought before that time. This time limit is therefore an extinction of the right to bring proceedings. The CJEU considers that the ten-year time limit is an integral part of the regime and cannot be set aside solely on the grounds of a subsequent development of the damage. The fact that the damage progresses does not prevent it from being detectable and iden - tifiable within the ten-year period, thereby enabling the victim to take action. Consequently, applying the cut-off period in this type of situation does not render access to the courts illusory.
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