The civil statute of limitations for product liability actions. New EU legislation – Directive (EU) 2024/2853 on liability for damage caused by defective products

1. Introduction: Background to the EU regime

In 1985, the European Union (EU) established a strict liability regime for defective products with the aim of effectively protecting people who suffered damage caused by an unsafe product. (Council Directive 85/374/EEC, transposed into national law (in Spain, through Law 22/1994 of 6 July).

However, recent technological, economic and legal changes such as digitalisation, artificial intelligence, supply chains and the circular economy have created the need for the European legislator to develop a new Directive on liability for defective products (EU) 2024/2853. This directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 18 November 2024 and must be transposed into national law by 9 December 2026.

The new text replaces the previous one and establishes new rules on the civil liability of producers and other economic operators, with specific reference to rules on limitation periods and expiry dates for bringing actions for redress and compensation.

2. We will first address the concept of limitation in civil liability for defective products

The definition of limitation, in general terms, is the loss of the right to claim due to the passage of time. In the area of liability for defective products, this institution fulfils two essential functions:

• It provides legal certainty for operators (manufacturers, distributors, importers).
• It ensures an appropriate balance between the interests of the injured parties and the legal certainty of those responsible.

Directive (EU) 2024/2853 regulates the maximum time limits and starting points for calculating the limitation period for liability actions for damage caused by defective products.

Limitation periods and their calculation:

General time limit for claims (liability action)

The Directive establishes a limitation period of three years for bringing a claim for compensation before the national courts, counted from the day on which the injured party became aware (or should have become aware) of the damage, the defect in the product and the identity of the liable party.

Objective time limit or limitation period

In addition to the three-year period from the date of knowledge, the Directive establishes maximum objective time limits, i.e. time limits for the exhaustion of the producer’s liability, which cannot be exceeded, even if the injured party was not aware of the damage before:

• 10 years from the date on which the defective product was placed on the market or put into service, if the product caused the damage under normal conditions of use.
• 25 years in cases of personal injury with delayed onset, where the harmful effects on health become apparent only after a long period of time (e.g. damage caused by substances with a long latency period).

These objective time limits are mandatory: once they have expired, the operator can no longer be held liable, even if the injured party brings the action within three years of becoming aware of the damage.

3. Interruption and suspension of the limitation period

The European Directive is based on traditional principles of civil and procedural law to interrupt or suspend the limitation period in certain circumstances:

• The time limit is interrupted if the injured party initiates legal proceedings or takes certain procedural steps aimed at obtaining compensation. In such cases, the time limit starts again from scratch.
• The suspension may apply in cases unrelated to the exercise of the action (e.g. legal incapacity of the injured party). In such cases, the Directive refers to domestic law to regulate the specific effect of these situations with regard to the absolute time limits of 10 and 25 years.

4. Relationship between limitation and expiry

• The statute of limitations is the means by which a right is lost for not exercising it within a reasonable period of time and may be interrupted or suspended.
• Expiry is a period that cannot be interrupted and results in the automatic extinction of the right when it expires.

The Directive establishes certain objective expiry periods (specifically 10 or 25 years from the date of placing on the market). Once these periods have expired, liability is definitively extinguished.

In cases where the injured party becomes aware of the damage late, they will have no valid claim if these absolute periods have expired.

The implementation of the new Directive pursues a number of objectives:

To improve consumer protection by combining a flexible period of three years from the time of knowledge with long objective periods (10 and 25 years).

• This provides a generous period for injured parties to become aware of and understand complex damage (e.g. damage caused by AI or digital products).
• Preventing producers from being irresponsible in the face of delayed or latent damage.
• Enhanced consumer protection is extended and aligned with the Directive’s objective of facilitating access to compensation.

It provides legal certainty for manufacturers and operators, as the existence of objective and well-defined time limits provides legal certainty for economic operators: after 10 or 25 years from the date of placing on the market, a producer can be reasonably sure that they will no longer face claims for a defective product.

Although the Directive harmonises the essential aspects of limitation periods, its practical application will depend on its transposition into national law (including the adaptation of civil and procedural codes to incorporate the three-year rule and the regulation of interruptions and suspensions).

Conclusion. – With Directive (EU) 2024/2853, European Union law incorporates a limitation regime for actions for liability for defective products that combines:

• A three-year limitation period based on knowledge of the damage.
• Long objective time limits of 10 and 25 years, which limit the liability of operators.
• Mechanisms that balance consumer protection with legal certainty for producers and other economic operators.

This new Directive aims to adapt the Community regime to contemporary technological and economic realities (digital products, artificial intelligence, circular economy), strengthening the effectiveness of civil claims and the legal certainty of the EU’s internal markets.

At Belzuz Abogados S.L.P., as a law firm specialising in insurance law and civil liability, we are available to advise you on the impact of this reform, both from the perspective of insurance practice and in defending the interests of victims and policyholders.