Opinions in the spotlight

The General Product Safety Directive provides the EU legal framework for the safety of non-food consumer products.

The Directive is nearly 20 years old and as such does not reflect any more the developments in products and markets. It does not explicitly address the fact that new technologies can impact product safety. There is a need to include clear provisions in the EU product safety legislation to explicitly address safety risks linked to products incorporating new technologies, such as connected products and AI. Furthermore, while the Directive applies to consumer products regardless if they are sold offline or online, e-commerce poses new challenges to the safety of consumers that need to be tackled.