Thirty years after the entry into force of the Directive on liability for defective products (Council Directive 85/374/EEC), and in the light of the threat to user safety posed by consumer goods that make use of new technologies, it is essential to assess and determine whether the Directive remains an adequate legal response to the phenomenon of products brought to market that fail to ensure appropriate levels of safety for their users. This book is the result of an extensive international research project funded by the Polish National Science Centre. Individual country reports analyze the implementation of the Directive in the domestic law of several EU and EEA Member States (namely Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland) and the relationship of the implemented rules with the already existing rules of tort law. The country reports show that the practical significance of product liability differs widely in the various Member States. Also taking into account non-EU countries (Canada, Israel, South Africa and the USA), this book examines whether EU law will ensure sufficient safety for individuals using goods that have been produced using new technologies that are currently under development. This, as well as an economic analysis of product liability, makes the book valuable for academics, practitioners, policy makers, and all those interested in the subject. (Series: Principles of European Tort Law) Subject: Tort Law, Private Law]

European Union citizens are injured each year while using products. Product liability law can contribute to preventing such damage by the way in which liability requirements in the context of warnings are framed and applied. Underlying these warning issues are a number of legal presumptions about how humans behave and interact with products and with their warnings. Primarily, liability law presumes that warnings can be effective in modifying user behavior. Relative to this is the manner in which courts or litigants evaluate product warnings in European product liability law. To rule more consistently and effectively in warning issues, a solution resides in the use of guidelines in European product liability laws that are based on empirical evidence on how humans interact with warnings. This book undertakes a behavioral approach towards the topic of warnings and product liability. Insights from cognitive psychology and ergonomics are essential for a thorough legal analysis of warnings, as they can shed light on people's abilities and limitations with regard to processing warning information, as well as on how the design of products can contribute to preventing accidents. (Series: Civilology - No. 2)

An easy-to-use introductory guide for industry and gov¿t. officials on the principles and concepts behind the European Union¿s (EU) ¿New Approach¿ laws and directives. Will help bus. and gov¿t. officials understand the new laws, the EU¿s standardization process, and the relationships between the European Comm. and the European standardization bodies in the EU. Also provides info. on the EU¿s approach to conformity assessment and requirements for obtaining the CE mark to gain access to the European Market. Offers explanations of such requirements as: notified bodies, conformity assessment modules, supplier¿s declaration of conformity, tech. construction files, user manuals, authorized rep., and product liability in the EU. Charts and tables.

The European Community (EC) has embarked on an ambitious legislative program for the new economy. In European Community Law for the New Economy professor Lucas Bergkamp analyzes the EC's current and proposed new economy legislation. The new economy, according to Bergkamp, is not only the internet, the information society, and biotechnology, but also a different kind of "old" economy, a different kind of corporate governance, and a different kind of government. Accordingly, in addition to the EC e-commerce, data protection, and biotechnology legislation, this book discusses also the grand principles of EC policy making (such as sustainable development and the precautionary principle), the theory of corporate social responsibility, and EC government reform. With its wide-ranging, insightful, and engaging analyses, and devoid of obliquity, EC Law for the New Economy is a unique publication. This book must be read by everybody who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of EC legislation, the root causes of regulatory failures, and possible solutions to these problems. It is of interest to lawyers, politicians, policy makers, government officials, political scientists, advanced students and autodidacts. Lucas Bergkamp is a lawyer at the Brussels Bar and Professor of International Liability Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam - The Netherlands.