Introduction

The face of European products liability may be about to change considerably. The first places where change probably will occur are in the procedural and funding areas. Though the density of European products cases has been and probably will continue to be slight compared to that in the United States, it is of note that a growing trend within the European case law is a shift to multi-party actions. Proposed procedural rule changes are about to fuel this shift. At the same time, fundamental changes in the way civil litigation is funded within European Union Member States have disproportionately encouraged group actions. They have also shifted greater risk, responsibility and power to plaintiffs' lawyers.

On the legislative front, the reform of the separate European products liability doctrine, set out in the 1985 European Directive on Product Liability, is on hold. Following both a Green Paper and a White Paper, the European Commission (the Commission) concluded that it had insufficient evidence to advise on the future of the Directive at present, and thus, it has both set up an expert advisory committee and funded two major research studies on products liability in Europe. These studies are to collect information, particularly on the costs that might result from any future repeal of the most controversial defence in the Directive.