The law of unintended consequences is not new. As early as the second half of the 18th century, political economist Adam Smith was writing about actions having unplanned effects. Complexity is often the root cause of unintended consequences. In our increasingly interconnected global economy and society it is hence not surprising that negative unforeseen effects must be guarded against more and more.

We write this report as elections are held for the European Parliament and as the European Commission prepares for its new mandate in November. If we look back over the five years of the last mandate, we can count a staggering 130 or more Commission initiatives on which Insurance Europe has worked because they have direct or indirect implications for Europe’s insurers. Given that huge number of initiatives, it is hardly surprising that one of our main roles has been to identify and explain the possible unintended consequences that legislative proposals could have for insurers, consumers or society, despite policymakers’ best intentions.