GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Dimitris Emvalomenos, Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners
The Latest in Greek Product Liability and Safety Law The legal regime applicable for product liability and safety in Greece is continuously changing, and is materially affected by legislative devel - opments derived from EU initiatives. The most significant of these developments are described below. Artificial intelligence (AI) The new digital technologies, and particularly AI, are the main drivers of the reform of the EU’s liability regime on products and related services. In this context: • a new Product Liability Directive (PLD) (Direc - tive (EU) 2024/2853) to repeal and replace the current PLD (Directive 85/374/EEC, as amended by Directive 99/34/EC) was adopted on 23 October 2024 and it must be transposed by the EU member states by 9 December 2026; and • an AI liability Directive had been proposed by the European Commission on 28 September 2022 to adapt non-contractual civil liability rules applicable to AI and to ensure broader protection against damage caused by AI systems by alleviating the burden of proof in compensation claims pursued under national fault-based liability regimes – however, the proposal was eventually withdrawn from the European Commission’s work programme for 2025 (presented in February 2025), consid - ered as premature and with concerns over regulatory duplication with the new PLD. In the meantime, and since 2008, there have been widespread changes in vertical sectoral legislation affecting product safety, with notable examples being the regulation of medical devic - es and machinery, addressing the key issues of risk prevention, transparency and enforcement.
The key aspects of the current PLD were designed with traditional products and business models of the 1980s in mind. With the progres - sive sophistication of the market since then due to new digital technologies, and particularly AI, the new PLD is now generally more expansive on: • “damage” , extending it to medically recog - nised damage to psychological health and destruction or corruption of privately used data and removing the minimum claim thresh - old; “products” , extending these to digital manufacturing files and standalone software, including AI (with limited exceptions); • the “manufacturer” including economic operators such as software developers, online marketplaces and fulfilment service providers; • simplified proof of “defect” and “causation” , with more detailed definitions and introduc - tion of presumptions and subjective criteria; • disclosure obligations of defendants connect - ed with presumed product defectiveness; and • an extended expiry period of 25 years when a claimant could not initiate proceedings earlier due to latent personal injury. Also, the new PLD concerns and interrelates with: • the AI Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of 13 June 2024 (the AI Act), the first worldwide set of AI rules, which follows a risk-based approach dividing AI systems into systems of unac - ceptable, high and low or minimal risk, and it enters into force from 2 February 2025 until 2 August 2027; and • the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988, which repealed the General Prod - uct Safety Directive 2001/1995/EC, from 13 December 2024.
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