Berkeley Program in Law and Economics

This paper analyzes and develops the concept of product defectiveness due to the lack, insufficiency or inaccuracy of the instructions regarding proper use or warnings of risks. Which instructions should be provided and which dangers should be warned about?, who should be instructed and warned?, and what makes an instruction and a warning adequate? These are the main questions this paper answers, according basically to the European and Spanish law, and taking into account the insights of the Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Products Liability of 1998. Moreover, this paper considers both the relations between the Directive 85/374/EEC and the Spanish Law 22/1994, and between the Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 December 2001 on general product safety, and the Spanish Royal Decree of 26 December 2003 on general product safety.