RITE - Responsibility In Technological Ecosystem
RITE - Responsibility In Technological Ecosystem
Supported by the European Union’s - Next Generation EU program
Italian PRIN 2022 – M4 C2, Investimento 1.1 – grant n. 20228K2MT4
CUP: F53D23003350006
Product liability in the European Union has traditionally been governed by Directive 85/374/EEC of 1985, which introduced a regime aimed at ensuring a high level of consumer protection while maintaining a balance between product safety, technological innovation and fair competition within the internal market.
Over the past decades, however, the development of the digital economy and advanced technologies – such as artificial intelligence systems – has profoundly transformed both the nature of products placed on the market and the structure of distribution chains. In light of these developments, a debate has emerged regarding the adequacy of the existing legal framework, which has recently led to the adoption, in 2024, of a new European directive on liability for defective products.
Against this background, the RITE project examines the main challenges raised by emerging technologies and new forms of product circulation, with the aim of contributing to the broader reflection on the future of civil liability in the digital economy.
Operational Units:
- University of Pavia, Prof. Nicola Rizzo (Principal Investigator)
- Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (Pisa), Prof. Andrea Bertolini (Local Unit)
On the basis of a critical assessment of the European legislative framework on product liability, the effort of RITE is directed towards setting new criteria and building advanced tools in order to enable producer liability, in the European context, to address the challenges arising from the modern service economy and emerging advanced technologies. New harmful objects and responsible subjects are considered the two fundamental directions of the project, through a two-fold method of analysis: theoretical – in a European and comparative perspective at the intersection between Law and Economics – and technical, based on the understanding of relevant issues from the perspectives of Engineering and Computer Science.
RITE starts by considering whether the function of the Product Liability Directive (PLD), as emerging from its recitals, has been – or not – achieved. To do so, it would consider empirical data derived from both case law and scholarly debate to assess the relevance and ease of application of notions such as “product” and “defect”. The evidentiary issues relating to the ascertainment of the causal nexus and the application of the defences provided for by the PLD would also be addressed.
In parallel, the fields of robotics and AI is investigated to determine whether they are indeed capable of identifying elements which are common to a very broad spectrum of applications, with or without a physical dimension.
Taking into consideration the interferences with the E-Commerce Directive and the Digital Services Act, RITE also considers the role of intermediaries – in particular platforms – in the service economy, along with the effectiveness of consumer protection.
From a (de iure) condendo perspective, RITE elaborates proposals in order to suitably address relevant concerns – such as safety, adequate compensation for damage, fair competition and innovation – bearing in mind the current efforts at EU level.
In light of these research objectives, the expected results include a systematic evaluation of the main shortcomings of the current European product liability regime, the identification of legally relevant criteria for analysing robotics and artificial intelligence applications, and a reconstruction of the role and potential liability of digital intermediaries in the circulation of products, with a view to formulating proposals that may contribute to academic debate and future policy initiatives at the European level.
