In the course of the project’s execution the state of the law in numerous European and non-European states was examined in respect of liability for loss caused by defective products. In particular, attention was focused on the extent to which legal regulations can encompass protection of individuals who have incurred loss in conjunction with the functioning of particular new technologies (the Internet of Things, three-dimensional printing, regenerative medicine, etc.).

Since the mid-1980s, European law has provided mostly uniform regulation throughout the entire European Union concerning the duty to remedy loss caused by a product that failed to ensure the expected level of safety. Liability for such loss is primarily a matter for the producer of the defective product, regardless of whether the producer is at fault for the causing of damage – sufficient grounds for burdening him with liability is the marketing of the defective product. Unification of liability rules was intended to improve the level of protection afforded to consumers and other individuals, as well as to remove barriers in the cross-border flow of goods within the European Union.

The conducted studies show that the first objective has not been entirely achieved, as prior to the implementation of harmonized law, individual states developed their own models of product liability which generally provided sufficient protection to the interests of injured parties. Additionally, technological development is leading to the spread of products whose characteristics exclude or render it difficult to apply the model of liability adopted in European law, primarily due to this model being limited to products of a material nature, whereas many modern products have important non-material components (particularly software and data).

The second objective has also not been entirely achieved, as EU law unified only some aspects of liability, while there remain many differences across domestic legal regimes concerning important aspects of repairing loss.

Some non-European legal systems over the last thirty years have undergone changes allowing them to provide better protection against the threats from defective products, while European law has not developed.

The European legislator should consider introducing changes into existing legislation, particularly in respect of the definition of a product (which should be separated from the traditional concept of a thing as a material object), the understanding of a product defect (this concept should also encompass defective intellectual content), extension of the producer’s liability period for personal injury, the introduction of measures making it easier for the average injured party to prove grounds for liability (such as defect or causal nexus between the workings of the product and loss); consideration should also be given to the possibility of separate regulation addressing liability for defective medical products (particularly medicines).