The essay concentrates on the relationship between civil liability and administrative regulation in EPL. After examining their historical evolution, he concludes that they have frequently complemented each other. Such complementarity has often been based on the need to integrate reciprocal insufficiencies. This happened, for example, at the end of the nineteenth Century, when welfare regulation complemented civil liability for industrial accidents; and at the end of the twentieth century, when civil liability complemented economic de-regulation. The normative thesis is that civil liability and regulation, public and private, are functional complements to be used simultaneously in order to pursue homogeneous goals: higher consumer and environmental protection. While the approach is meant to have general application, the relationship is analysed in two fields: product safety and environmental protection. The descriptive claim is that, both at the European and national levels, there is insufficient coordination between civil liability and regulation. He advocates a more integrated approach in relation to a) substantive rules, i.e. product defectiveness, remedies in product and environmental liability, and to b) institutions, judges, public and private regulators, called upon to administer the two systems. To pursue a coordinated strategy institutional changes are required. A different functional partitioning between regulation and civil liability, in order to assess and manage risks associated to dangerous products and processes, is a necessary but insufficient step; a new institutional framework, designed to ensure that effective deterrence and just compensation occur, is also required. These are not only necessary components of European citizenship but also important requirements of an efficient integrated European market. The paper emphasizes the importance of recognizing the liability of regulators in ensuring the effectiveness of regulatory strategies. Greater coordination among national judiciaries in relation to product and environmental liability, based on the duty of loyal and sincere cooperation, is advocated. In relation to general concepts, such as product safety and environmental pollution, harmonized judicial interpretation is particularly necessary, given the width of legislative definitions and the strategic function of national regulators and judges in specifying standards and monitoring compliance
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Paper provided by European University Institute (EUI), Department of Law in its series EUI-LAW Working Papers with number
13.