Simplify. Compete. Lead. – An independent Europe needs strong insurers

Europe is competing globally with the United States, China, and other emerging economies. To remain economically strong, Europe needs powerful and independent champions — including in the insurance sector.

European (re)insurers are among the world’s leading providers. They form a key pillar of the global financial system: they absorb risks, enable investment, and channel vast amounts of capital into businesses and infrastructure. This makes them a crucial driver of Europe’s competitiveness.

Now is the time to strengthen their global leadership — by prioritizing competitiveness, cutting red tape, and creating better conditions for growth and innovation.

Act decisively

In a new publication, GDV outlines how targeted regulatory simplification and strategic policy decisions can reinforce the global leadership of European (re)insurers.

To strengthen Europe’s insurers as global champions, the following steps are needed:

1. Simplify regulation consistently
   Reduce overlapping rules (including DORA, the AI Act, and cyber regulation), cut reporting requirements, and strengthen proportionality.
2. Use Solvency II strategically
   Equivalence decisions, meaning recognizing non-EU supervisory regimes as equivalent to EU rules, can improve European insurers’ competitive position abroad. Reporting obligations should be reduced and proportionality reinforced within supervisory law.
3. Avoid new and additional burdens
   Initiatives such as FIDA must not weaken Europe’s market position or benefit non-European digital giants. The proposed Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive (IRRD) adds no real value and contradicts commitments to reduce bureaucracy.
4. Advance the Savings and Investments Union
   To offer attractive investment opportunities to savers and improve financing conditions — especially for start-ups and innovative companies — capital markets must become more integrated and administrative barriers further reduced.
5. Embed competitiveness as a core objective
   Competitiveness must be firmly anchored as a guiding principle in EU legislation and in the work of European supervisory authorities.

Next step: An ambitious simplification package for the insurance sector

Such a package should target areas where bureaucracy and duplication undermine competitiveness — without compromising financial stability or consumer protection. Action is required at the European level, supported by a consistent national strategy.

Whether Europe remains a strong economic power also depends on how risks are managed, how capital is invested, and whether quality jobs are maintained. A competitive insurance sector makes a decisive contribution to these goals.

“Simplify. Compete. Lead.” delivers a clear message: simplify regulation, strengthen competitiveness, and expand Europe’s global leadership in insurance. Only then can Europe secure long-term stability, prosperity, and resilience.