Produzentenhaftung final

European Perspectives on
Producers’ Liability

European Perspectives on
Producers’ Liability
Direct Producers’ Liability for Non-conformity
and the Sellers’ Right of Redress
Edited by
Martin Ebers
André Janssen
Olaf Meyer

ISBN (print) 978-3-86653-055-3
ISBN (eBook) 978-3-86653-862-7
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografi e;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
© 2009 by sellier. european law publishers GmbH, Munich.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a
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Design: Sandra Sellier, Munich. Production: Karina Hack, Munich. Typeface: Goudy Old Style
and Goudy Sans von Linotype. Printing and binding: Friedrich Pustet KG, Regensburg. Printed on
acid-free, non-ageing paper. Printed in Germany.

Acknowledgements
The editors would like to thank all of the contributing authors for generously committing
their time and knowledge to this book. We also appreciate the efforts of external rapporteurs
who provided important insight into the current state of the law in their respective
countries: Dr. Baiba Broka, University of Latvia, Riga; Dr. Katarína Chovancová, Bratislava
School of Law, Slovakia; Dr. David Elischer, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic;
Andreja Primec, M.Sc., University of Maribor, Slovenia; Aura Trifu, Ph.D. candidate, Romania,
currently at the University of Barcelona, Spain; and Prof. Laurence Usunier, University
of Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
The editors would also like to thank Lovells (Düsseldorf) and the Centre for European
Law and Politics (University of Bremen) for their generous financial support of this endeavour.
Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the support and assistance of those who have contributed
to the completion of this book. We would specifically like to thank Jonathon
Watson for patiently proofreading all of the contributions, Anna-Maria Hubert for proofreading
the comparative report, and sellier. european law publishers, and in particular
Andreas Pittrich, for their friendly co-operation throughout all stages of this project.
Berlin, Bremen and Münster, February 2009 Martin Ebers
André Janssen
Olaf Meyer

List of Contributors
Dr. Yeşim M. Atamer
Associate Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
Dr. Susanne Augenhofer
Senior Research Fellow, University of Vienna, Austria
Dr. Giovanni Bisazza
Advocate, Law Firm “Studio Nevoni”, Padua, Italy
Lecturer, University of Verona, Italy
List of Contributors
Dr. Silke Bittner
Legal Consultant, Bundesverband Direktvertrieb Deutschland e.V., Germany
Dr. Michel Cannarsa
Senior Research Fellow, University Jean Moulin-Lyon 3, France
Bram Duivenvoorde
LL.M. Candidate, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Dr. Martin Ebers
Senior Research Fellow, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
Prof. Judit Fazekas
Secretary of State for EU Affairs, Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement, Hungary
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Miskolc, Hungary
Prof. Morten M. Fogt
Professor of Civil and International Law, Faculty of Social Sciences,
School of Law, University of Aarhus, Denmark
Prof. Andreas Furrer
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Luzern, Switzerland
Dr. Guido Grunwald
Research Assistant, School of Business Administration, Department of Marketing,
University of Osnabrück, Germany
Prof. Ewoud Hondius
Professor of European Private Law, Molengraaff Institute,
University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

VIII List of Contributors
Dr. André Janssen
Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Private Law at the
University of Münster, Germany
Prof. Ioannis Karakostas
Professor of Law and Vice-Rector, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Prof. Irene Kull
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Tartu, Estonia
Prof. Kåre Lilleholt
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Norway
Dr. Eva Lindell-Frantz
Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lund, Sweden
Dr. Grazio Mercieca
Ghaqda tal-Konsumaturi, Malta
Dr. Olaf Meyer
Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Law and Politics at the
University of Bremen, Germany
Dr. Paul Edgar Micallef
Ghaqda tal-Konsumaturi, Malta
Dr. Katarzyna Michałowska
Adiunkt, Faculty of Law and Administration, Warsaw University, Poland
Prof. Olivier Moréteau
Professor of Law, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University, USA
Prof. Paulo Mota Pinto
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, Coimbra University, Portugal
Judge of the Constitutional Court, Lisbon, Portugal
Prof. Susana Navas Navarro
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Olli Norros
Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, Finland
Gediminas Pranevičius
Advocate, Law Firm “Smaliukas, Juodka and partners”, Lithuania

List of Contributors IX
Nadine S. Reinfried
Advocate, Law Firm “Meyer Müller Eckert Partners”, Zurich, Switzerland
Prof. Peter Rott
Junior Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Bremen, Germany
Prof. Stefan Rutten
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Prof. Martin Schermaier
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Bonn, Germany
Dr. Stefanie Sendmeyer
Senior Research Fellow, University of Münster, Germany
Dr. Gabriella Sós
Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement, Hungary
Prof. Dirk Standop
Professor of Economy, School of Business Administration, Department of Marketing,
University of Osnabrück, Germany
Prof. Gert Straetmans
Professor of Law and Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Dr. Christian Takov
Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Sofia, Bulgaria
Prof. Stefano Troiano
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Verona, Italy
Dr. Christian Twigg-Flesner
Reader in Law, Law School, University of Hull, UK
Prof. Roger van den Bergh
Professor of Law and Economics, Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics (RILE),
Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Dr. Louis Visscher
Associate Professor of Law and Economics, Rotterdam Institute of Law and
Economics (RILE), Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Aikaterini Chr. Voulgari
Advocate, Greece

X List of Contributors
Dr. Fidelma White
Senior Lecturer in Law, University College Cork, Ireland
Prof. Chris Willett
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, De Montfort University Leicester, UK
Daily Wuyts
PhD researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements Table of Contents V
List of Contributors VII
Part 1
European Perspectives on Producers’ Liability
Comparative Report 3
Martin Ebers, André Janssen and Olaf Meyer
Part 2
Horizontal Perspectives
New Law Based on Old Rules: Antecedents and Paragons of the Modern Law on
Producers’ Liability 77
Martin Schermaier
Impacts of Warranty Claims on Consumers’ Complaint Behaviour and Producer’s
Reputation: A Behavioural Psychology Analysis and Empirical Findings 105
Dirk Standop and Guido Grunwald
Consumer Sales Law from an Economic Perspective 125
Roger Van den Bergh and Louis Visscher
Direct Producers’ Liability and Sellers’ Right of Redress in Private International Law 151
Stefanie Sendmeyer
Part 3
Producers’ Liability and the Sellers’ Right of Redress
in European Legal Orders
Public Statements by Producers, Commercial Guarantees and the
Right of Redress in Austrian Law after the Transposition of Directive 99/44 171
Susanne Augenhofer
Rights of Redress and Direct Producer’s Liability in Consumer Sales
in Belgium: a Critical Appraisal 195
Stefan Rutten, Gert Straetmans and Daily Wuyts

XII Table of Contents
The Producer’s and Seller’s Liability under Bulgarian Law 211
Christian Takov
Direct Liability of Previous Seller, Supplier and Producer in Danish Law 223
Morten M. Fogt
An English Perspective on Producers’ Liability 255
Christian Twigg-Flesner
Direct Producers’ Liability and the Sellers’ Right of Redress in Estonia 275
Irene Kull
A Finnish Perspective on Producers’ Liability 295
Olli Norros
The French “Action Directe”: The Justification for Going beyond Privity 311
Michel Cannarsa and Olivier Moréteau
Direct Producer’s Liability and the Final Seller’s Right of Redress in Germany 323
Silke Bittner and Peter Rott
Direct Producers’ Liability, Commercial Guarantees and the
Seller’s Right of Redress in Greek Civil Law 341
Ioannis K. Karakostas and Aikaterini Chr. Voulgari
The Implementation of the Directive 99/44 into Hungarian Law
and the Legal Institution of the Direct Producers’ Liability 353
Judit Fazekas and Gabriella Sós
The Buyer, the Seller, the Producer and the Law in Ireland 371
Fidelma White
Direct Producers’ Liability and the Final Seller’s Right of Redress in Italy 391
Stefano Troiano and Giovanni Bisazza
Direct Producers’ Liability and the Sellers’ Right of Redress – Lithuanian Perspective 417
Gediminas Pranevičius
Direct Producers’ Liability and Sellers’ Rights of Redress under Maltese Law 427
Paul Edgar Micallef and Grazio Mercieca
Recourse and Direct Action in the Netherlands: a Dutch Treat? 445
Bram Duivenvoorde and Ewoud Hondius
The Consumer’s Direct Claims against Parties to Previous Contracts
and the Seller’s Right of Redress in Norway 461
Kåre Lilleholt

Table of Contents XIII
Direct Producer’s Liability and the Seller’s Right of Redress in Poland 475
Katarzyna Michałowska
Direct Producers’ Liability and the Sellers’ Right of Redress in Portugal 491
Paulo Mota Pinto
Producers’ Liability for Non-conformity in Scots Law 505
Chris Willett
Direct Liability of the Producer and the Seller’s Right of Redress in Spain 515
Susana Navas Navarro
Direct Producers’ Liability and the Seller’s Right of Redress
According to Swedish Law 547
Eva Lindell-Frantz
Producer’s and Seller’s Liability under Swiss Law −
A Comparative Analysis under European Perspectives 563
Andreas Furrer and Nadine S. Reinfried
Third Persons’ Liability for Non-conformity in Sales Contracts and
Sellers’ Right of Redress in Turkey 579
Yeşim M. Atamer