Article 17

Member States shall ensure that an injured person is no longer entitled to compensation pursuant to this Directive upon the expiry of a period of 10 years, unless that injured person has, in the meantime, initiated proceedings against an economic operator that can be held liable pursuant to Article 8. That period shall run from: (a) the date on which the defective product which caused the damage was placed on the market or put into service; or (b) in the case of a substantially modified product, the date on which that product was made available on the market or put into service following its substantial modification.

By way of exception from paragraph 1, where an injured person has not been able to initiate proceedings within 10 years of the dates referred to in paragraph 1 due to the latency of a personal injury, the injured person shall no longer be entitled to compensation pursuant to this Directive upon the expiry of a period of 25 years, unless that injured person has, in the meantime, initiated proceedings against an economic operator that can be held liable pursuant to Article 8.