Consumer protection: civil liability for defective products (direct. 85/374/EEC). Green paper

The committee adopted the report by Donald MacCORMICK (Greens/EFA, UK) on the Commission Green Paper "Liability for Defective Products". The Green Paper was a response to Parliament's request, when amending the 1985 Product Liability Directive in 1999, that the Directive be reconsidered. Parliament felt then that there might be a need for an overhaul of product liability legislation. The committee welcomed the Commission's move to consult with those affected by the Directive but stressed at the same time that any revision of the Directive must be based on clearly established factual evidence. Thus it called on the Commission to take a more scientific approach, not only asking concerned parties for their opinions but also involving research institutes, the academic community and civil society in the revision process. The committee also took the view that food safety could be best achieved by production, labelling and tracing requirements and that the Product Liability Directive could have only a very limited protective effect. It was therefore opposed to a special "food liability law".�