Article 8

Member States shall ensure that the following economic operators are liable for damage in accordance with this Directive: (a) the manufacturer of a defective product; (b) the manufacturer of a defective component, where that component was integrated into, or inter-connected with, a product within the manufacturer’s control and caused that product to be defective, and without prejudice to the liability of the manufacturer referred to in point (a); and (c) in the case of a manufacturer of a product or a component established outside the Union, and without prejudice to the liability of that manufacturer: (i)the importer of the defective product or component; (ii)the authorised representative of the manufacturer; and (iii)where there is no importer established within the Union or authorised representative, the fulfilment service provider. The liability of the manufacturer referred to in the first subparagraph, point (a), shall also cover any damage caused by a defective component where it was integrated into, or inter-connected with, a product within that manufacturer’s control.

Any natural or legal person that substantially modifies a product outside the manufacturer’s control and thereafter makes it available on the market or puts it into service shall be considered to be a manufacturer of that product for the purposes of paragraph 1.

Member States shall ensure that, where an economic operator from among those referred to in paragraph 1 and established in the Union cannot be identified, each distributor of the defective product is liable where: (a) the injured person requests that distributor to identify an economic operator from among those referred to in paragraph 1 and established in the Union, or its own distributor that supplied it with that product; and (b) that distributor fails to identify an economic operator or its own distributor, as referred to in point (a), within one month of receiving the request referred to in point (a).

Paragraph 3 of this Article shall also apply to any provider of an online platform that allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders and that is not an economic operator, provided that the conditions set out in Article 6(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 are fulfilled.

Where victims fail to obtain compensation because none of the persons referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4 can be held liable under this Directive, or because the liable persons are insolvent or have ceased to exist, Member States may use existing national sectoral compensation schemes or establish new ones under national law, preferably not funded by public revenue, to appropriately compensate injured persons who have suffered damage caused by defective products.