The servitization of industry: EU law implications and challenges’

Abstract:

Servitization is one of the economic megatrends in modern society, a process that creates value by adding services to products, ranging from renting and maintaining expensive capital goods to producing smart objects and rapid prototyping.

This article explores some of the EU law implications and challenges of servitization from the competition and consumer law perspective; it also considers servitization in cross-border trade, highlighting the close connection between servitization and globalization.

EU law may on the one hand act as a driver for servitization, by helping to pave the way for more innovative solutions, while at the same time preventing the negative implications of servitization for European society and economy. However, when regulation lacks clarity or is not timely adopted, it may be a barrier to new business models, thereby restraining the competitiveness of EU industry and growth.