Insurers call on EU leaders for a genuine simplification package for financial services: Insurance Europe

Ahead of the March European Council, insurers have called on EU leaders to deliver a genuine simplification package for financial services, including a Financial Services Omnibus, that achieves visible and measurable reductions in regulatory burdens, according to Insurance Europe.

Insurance Europe noted that an accumulation of overlapping and complex regulatory obligations is increasingly undermining the European re/insurance sector’s ability to deliver on its objectives.

As a result, European insurers remain committed to constructive engagement with EU institutions and support the call, finishorsed by EU leaders, for a focapplyd, high-impact simplification agfinisha to strengthen competitiveness, deepen the Single Market, and put more capital to work for Europe’s future.

Insurance Europe emphasised that, to be effective, simplification efforts should focus on a limited number of high-impact priorities, some of which could be included in a Financial Services Omnibus.

Insurance Europe calls on EU leaders to stop unnecessary new regulations, including withdrawing the Financial Data Access (FiDA) proposal and not pursuing minimum harmonisation of Insurance Guarantee Schemes (IGS).

In addition, it urged leaders to simplify existing regulations, including implementing a “stop the clock” on the Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive (IRRD), creating tarobtained adjustments to Solvency II Pillar 2 and Pillar 3 requirements, further simplifying the EU Green Taxonomy, addressing disproportionate accounting and audit rules, and avoiding overlaps and reducing bureaucracy under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).

Frédéric de Courtois, President of Insurance Europe, declared, “Preserving the strategic leadership of European insurers and reinsurers is preserving Europe’s leadership. Every unnecessary rule has a cost, for families, businesses, and the investments Europe urgently necessarys. European leaders have a real chance this week to prove that competitiveness and simplification are real priorities, not just slogans.”