When is a company responsible for damage caused by consumers with their product?

Professor Christina Eckes was asked this question for an article in the Dutch newspaper, NRC, published on 6 December and written by the journalist, Laura Bergshoef.

”What is the similarity between a Bushmaster AR-15 firearm and Euro95 fuel? Answer: with both products, the question is increasingly being asked: can you hold the company that sells it responsible for reducing the danger that arises because customers use this product? Or does that responsibility simply lie with the customer themselves?” (translated from Dutch).

The article goes on to discuss the landmark climate case in the Netherlands involving Milieudefensie and Shell, highlighting a shift in how companies’ responsibilities for climate change are being viewed by lawyers, judges, companies, and activists.

“Consumers are not as free in what they buy as is often thought,” says Christina Eckes, professor of European law at the UvA. “This is becoming increasingly clear in scientific studies. What we buy is determined by supply, advertisements, and by what the neighbor does.”