Transposition Time – Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden: Update on the EU Member States’ adoption of the new Product Liability Directive

This is the first of a series of articles in which CMS will report on progress of the transposition of the new Product Liability Directive[1] (“PLD”). Member States have until 9 December 2026 to transpose this measure into their national law. In brief summary, the PLD:[2]

• Extends the definition of “product” to include software and digital manufacturing files
• Expands the pool of potential defendants
• Alleviates the burden of proof for claimants in certain circumstances, e.g., where there are excessive difficulties in proving “defectiveness” in view of technical or scientific complexities
• Provides for new rules regarding the disclosure of evidence by a defendant where a claimant has presented facts and evidence sufficient to support the plausibility of the claim
• Extends the type of damage compensable
• Removes the minimum threshold for property damage
• Extends the liability period to 25 years in certain circumstances due to the latency of personal injury damage
• Maintains the “development risk defence,” whereby a defendant may assert that the state of scientific and technical knowledge at the time the product was placed on the market was not such that the defectiveness could be discovered; however, on this topic, the PLD maintains a derogation option for Member States who may omit the defence when transposing the directive into national law.

The new PLD entered into force on 8 December 2024, and the first steps are now being taken by Member States to complete the transposition process. Each country must notify the European Commission of their measures, and the Commission in turn will make sure the new law meets the aims of the Directive and is enacted on a timely basis.[3]

First transposition measures - Netherlands

On 24 April 2025, the Netherlands became the first Member State to publish its bill to transpose the PLD via amendments to provisions of the Dutch Civil Code. The bill —which tracks the content of the PLD itself — was accompanied by an explanatory memorandum published by the State Secretary for Justice and Security and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This document includes a recitation of the background to the new PLD, an outline of its main provisions, and a detailed explanation of which provisions are already covered by Dutch law. Certain language nuances are provided for in relation to words that are required to fit with “systematics” of the Dutch law of evidence. Few insights are provided about the way in which new areas of the Directive function as the explanatory memorandum mostly references the recitals to the new PLD in this context.  

Regarding the “development risk defence,” the Netherlands continues the approach adopted with the first 1985 Product Liability Directive,[4] choosing not to remove this defence.

The Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security opened a consultation with publication of the draft bill and explanatory memorandum on 24 April 2025 to seek the views of interested parties on the transposition of the PLD. Closing on 22 May 2025, at the time of writing there have been just five responses to this consultation, possibly reflecting that there is little of contention in the bill and explanatory memorandum since they closely track the PLD itself. The Ministry of Justice and Security will review the responses received and amend the proposal where necessary. The bill will then be submitted to the Council of Ministers for inter-departmental coordination. This may lead to several changes to the bill. However, given the full harmonization of the new PLD, we do not expect substantial changes, if any. 

Transposition of any directive is a first step for Member States. The detail of how this new law may impact manufacturers will emerge as terms are debated in legislatures, and at the implementation stage when product liability cases are brought before national courts, who will interpret the law and clarify the circumstances under which certain of the newer PLD concepts will be applied. This will inevitably include consideration of themes such as reversal of the burden of proof and its trigger point of “excessive difficulties, in particular due to technical or scientific complexity, in proving the defectiveness of [a] product or the causal link… or both.”[5]

Also in preparation – Finland and Sweden

Apart from the Netherlands, there does not yet appear to be any other published Member State transposition measures. However, in Finland, the Ministry of Justice established a working group in February 2025, tasked with preparing the provisions for the implementation of the new PLD and for which the term will continue until 1 February 2026. Preparation of the national legislative amendments required by the PLD was reportedly started in March 2025.

Also, the Swedish government has appointed a special investigator tasked with proposing necessary implementation measures in Sweden, including any necessary amendments to Swedish law. The five page briefing mandate for the investigator contains a recitation of the new PLD’s provisions and certain references to the relevant Swedish legislation that would apply to, e.g., disclosure provisions. The deadline for the special investigator to publish the proposed implementation measures has been set to 10 October 2025.

Other Member States to follow

So far, these three nations appear to be the front runners in the adoption of the terms of the new PLD. The December 2026 transposition deadline will come around quickly, so we anticipate further action from other nations soon, mindful of the possible infringement provisions that may await Member States who fail to transpose this directive on a timely basis.

CMS will be reporting as progress is made in each of the Member States.  Thank you to CMS Wistrand (Sweden) and Borenius (Finland) for their assistance with transposition updates for Sweden and Finland, respectively.

[1] Directive (EU) 2024/2853 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024

[2] See our previous Law Now here.  See also pgs 54-59 of CMS’ 2024 European Class Action Report here.

[3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:transposition#:~:text=Transposition%20is%20the%20process%20of,their%20rules%20into%20national%20legislation.

[4] (Council Directive 85/374/EEC)

[5] Art. 10(4)(b)