Product liability and the withdrawn AI Liability Directive
The EU's answer to "who pays when AI causes harm" is not a new AI-specific liability law. The 2022 AI Liability Directive was withdrawn; instead the revised Product Liability Directive folds software and AI into the existing product-liability framework.
In one line
No AI-specific civil liability in the EU: the Commission dropped the AI Liability Directive and modernised product liability instead, so defective software and AI count as defective products.
New Product Liability Directive — Directive (EU) 2024/2853
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2022-09-28 | proposal published |
| 2024-10-23 | date the directive carries (OJ publication followed on 2024-11-18) |
| 2024-12-08 | entered into force (twentieth day after OJ publication) |
| 2026-12-09 | deadline for Member States to transpose into national law (Article 22) |
What it changes:
- Software and AI systems count as products — the old directive (85/374/EEC) assumed physical goods.
- Disclosure duty — a claimant can ask the court to order the defendant to disclose evidence; refusal can affect the outcome.
- Rebuttable presumption — where a product is technically or scientifically complex, a defect and its causal link may be presumed, easing the claimant's evidential burden.
- Applies to products placed on the market after the transposition date, so the practical effect arrives from December 2026.
AI Liability Directive — withdrawn
- Proposed 28 September 2022 to ease the burden of proof in AI-related damage claims (presumptions, disclosure of evidence).
- The Commission withdrew the proposal in its 2025 Work Programme, adopted 11 February 2025, and signalled no near-term replacement; a future Commission could revive the idea if PLD case law exposes a gap, but that would be a multi-year process.
Practical state of play
- Until national transposition completes, liability sits with national tort law plus sector rules.
- After December 2026, a defective AI-enabled product can be pursued under product liability with a softer evidential burden.
- Pure economic loss and non-product AI harm remain the acknowledged gaps.
Unverified / TODO
- Official Journal publication date (2024-11-18) and the transposition deadline (2026-12-09, Article 22) confirmed against the directive text
- Note the extent of the "software as product" definition (including SaaS and updates)
- Cross-reference the AI Act's relationship to liability and its conformity-assessment duties
Source quotes
Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 9 December 2026.— PLD Article 22(1) — the 2026-12-09 transposition deadline (snapshot:snapshots/eu/pld.txt)who has presented facts and evidence sufficient to support the plausibility of the claim for compensation, the defendant is required to disclose relevant evidence that is at the defendant’s disposal, subject to the conditions set out in this Article.— PLD Article 9(1) — the disclosure-of-evidence duty the card relies on (snapshot:snapshots/eu/pld.txt)national courts should presume the defectiveness of a product where a defendant fails to comply with such an obligation— PLD recital — the presumption that follows a refusal to disclose (snapshot:snapshots/eu/pld.txt)