SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Xavier Moliner and Juan Martínez, Faus Moliner
The Judgment of 7 February 2024 In this case, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled on the extinction of liability time limit of ten years from the time the product is put on the market, during which an action based on the product lia - bility regime of RDL 1/2007 can be brought. The Supreme Court pointed out, in this ruling, that when a product liability claim is brought against a distributor that does not comply with its iden - tification duties, this period of extinction starts when the distributor (not the manufacturer) put the product on the market. 3. Recent Policy Changes and Outlook 3.1 Trends in Product Liability and Product Safety Policy On 24 December 2020, Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of con - sumers, repealing Directive 2009/22/EC, entered into force. This Representative Actions Directive has not yet been transposed in Spain. One of the develop - ments of this Directive is to include a system of disclosure of evidence that allows qualified entities intending to bring a representative action to request that the defendant or a third party dis - closes certain pieces of evidence under its con - trol that are relevant for the action to be brought. This may lead to significant modifications of the structure of the Spanish civil procedure regard - ing representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers related to product safety infringement and product liability, among others.
Another trend in product liability and product safety policy is Directive (EU) 2024/2853 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on liability for defective products, repealing Council Directive 85/374/EEC. This new Directive on liability for defective prod - ucts introduces certain measures that may have a relevant impact on product liability litigation. These include the following. • A more precise, detailed and comprehen - sive definition of the parameters that outline the concept of defectiveness (which would continue to be based on the criteria of safety that a person is entitled to expect in accord - ance with the safety standards required under Union or national law) and a broader list of non-exhaustive circumstances to be consid - ered when assessing defectiveness, including (i) the presentation and characteristics of the product, including its labelling, design, techni - cal features, composition and packaging, and instructions for its assembly, installation, use and maintenance; (ii) the reasonably foresee - able use of the product; (iii) the effect on the product of any ability to continue to learn or acquire new features after it is placed on the market or put into service; (iv) the reasonably foreseeable effect that may be caused by oth - er products that are expected to be used with the product (also by interconnection); (v) the precise time when the product was placed on the market; (vi) the relevant product safety requirements (including cybersecurity require - ments); (vii) any recall of the product and/or any other interventions made by a regulatory authority or an economic operator respon - sible for the product in relation to its safety; (viii) the specific needs of the group of users for whom the product is intended; and (ix) in the case of a product whose very purpose is
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