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The EU’s civil justice and liability framework is entering a decisive phase, with major implications for legal certainty, risk allocation, the competitiveness of European economic operators and the functioning of the Single Market. The revised Product Liability Directive (PLD) and the Representative Actions Directive (RAD), together with the intensifying debate over unregulated Third-Party Litigation Funding (TPLF), are reshaping the balance between litigation risk, consumer protection and business exposure across the Union. The reforms coincide with the EU’s renewed prioritisation of Competitiveness, Simplification and Better Regulation, raising the question of whether the EU’s objectives in these areas are aligned or at a cross-roads with its civil justice agenda.

As national transposition advances and enforcement practice takes shape, practical challenges are emerging including Single Market risks, weakening of established civil justice principles, increased regulatory complexity and introduction of novel US-style legal reforms. Rising insurance premiums and legal costs fall hardest on SMEs and start-ups, many of which now fall within the scope of product liability rules for the first time. Recent estimates suggest the revised PLD alone could reduce EU GDP by 0.17–0.24 per cent, while US evidence shows that SMEs generate around 20 per cent of commercial revenue but bear nearly half of total tort liability costs. At the same time, the corporate sustainability agenda, through the CSDDD and CSRD, is introducing a new layer of liability exposure and due diligence obligations that intersects directly with these litigation trends.

The conference will address the major trends and policy issues that deserve the close attention of a broad spectrum of EU policy-makers and key public and private stakeholders, including:

- TPLF and collective redress: state of play, next steps and the need to protect European consumers and companies from abuses;

- The PLD and its implications for manufacturers, SMEs and digital innovators, including the consequences for competitiveness and the Single Market;

- The CSDDD and CSRD and the new liability challenges for companies operating across the Union;

- Early experience with collective actions: what has worked, where friction remains and how to ensure a balanced enforcement framework for consumers and economic operators in the years ahead.


Organised by: European Justice Forum

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Associate partners: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, MedTech Europe, Fair Civil Justice, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), and the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK)

Media Partner: Rapporteur