GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Dimitris Emvalomenos, Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners
1.2 Regulatory Authorities for Product Safety ); or (ii) bodies registered as QEs in other EU mem - ber states. A Greek QE must prove that it has a minimum 12-month actual public activity in favour of consumers’ interests to be qualified as such, among other criteria imposed by Law 5019. An assessment of whether Greek QEs meet the set criteria will be made at least every two years by the General Secretariat. Representative actions may regard injunctive and/or redress measures, and may only be brought before a court. Apart from few excep - tions, RAD provisions are followed on content, proceedings and the effect thereof, with required adaptations to the Greek legal framework (new Articles 10a–10r of Law 2251). 2.17 Summary of Significant Recent Product Liability Claims Numerous lawsuits have been filed in recent years over the so-called “Dieselgate” claims on a variety of legal grounds, mainly product liabil - ity/product safety, as well as on contract-for-sale and tort rules. The vast majority of the lawsuits were dismissed on a combination of motives, such as vagueness, lack of legal basis or causal link or standing to be sued with respect to the defendants. Indicative court decisions that rejected such claims include: Patras First Instance Court 119/2022; Thessaloniki First Instance Court 800/2020; Athens Justice of the Peace Nos 1940/2022, 1941/2022, 1463/2021, 325/2020, 1104/2020 and 3222/2020; Chalandri Justice of the Peace Nos 26/2022 and 145/2020; Ama - roussion Justice of the Peace No 146/2021; and Serres Justice of the Peace No 39/2020. Conversely, Athens First Instance Court No 4749/2021 and Athens Justice of the Peace No
1774/2023 upheld the claims, although only par - tially.
3. Recent Policy Changes and Outlook 3.1 Trends in Product Liability and Product Safety Policy Law 2251 has been amended several times, and the latest notable modifications affecting prod - uct liability and product safety are as follows. • In 2018, material changes were made to: (a) the definition of “consumer” , which was narrowed, having previously been extremely broad; (b) the regulatory authorities and their en - forcement duties; (c) the funding of consumer associations; and (d) administrative proceedings and sanctions imposed (Articles 1a.1, 7 and former Arti - cles 10, 13a and 13b of Law 2251). • In 2022–2024, further changes were enacted regarding: (a) the new legal framework on collective redress in force as from 26 June 2023 (see 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representative Proceedings or Co-Ordi- nated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims ); and (b) a new set of rules on compliance supervi - sion, enforcement measures and sanc - tions (new Articles 10a–10r, 13a–13i and 14 of Law 2251). Overall, there is a continuing trend towards increased and broader consumer rights, as well as sanctions for relevant breaches.
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