Productaansprakelijkheid in een Meer Circulaire Economie: Een Studie naar Aansprakelijkheid voor Alternatieve Methoden voor het Verdelen en Produceren van Consumptiegoederen

Specific, more strict theories of product liability, which are today in the EU mostly maximally harmonised, have been developed on the basis of a linear economic model. By using doctrinal and economic legal research, this thesis examines the current state of EU product liability law and how it is tested by alternative, circular economic methods of distributing and producing durable consumer goods, like product reuse, repurposing, resales and other retransfers, repairs, refurbishments and remanufacturing. Besides direct pertinence to growing circular economy in the consumer goods sector, this study of so-far overlooked questions offers also new theoretical insights into product liability with broader academic and practical relevance. After a general introduction to the domains of product liability and circular economy, a normative framework is developed that reconciles distributive justice in terms of economic efficiency with corrective justice. Subsequently, it is argued that also in a circular economic setting a more strict product liability rule like the EU harmonised theory is preferable in light of this normative framework, while the added value of product liability in general increases compared to its main regulatory alternatives. The thesis then studies the application to the aforementioned circular strategies of current EU product liability law based on the 1985 Directive and its almost finally adopted 2024 successor. Overall, EU product liability law turns out to be quite versatile and its relevance in a more circular consumption sector is improved by some of the new proposed rules. Nevertheless, limitations remain and several interpretative issues are identified in the new Directive, for which amendments are proposed.