Insurance Europe

Insurance Europe has responded to a European Commission consultation on the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act. In its position, it backs the ambition to strengthen digital infrastructure and boost AI adoption across the continent, which is essential to meeting the needs of businesses and public services and enhancing competitiveness.

However, Insurance Europe stresses that success will depend on the EU taking a pragmatic, investment-led and open approach, and avoid restricting access to global technologies currently relied upon by insurers and other businesses.

Arthur Hilliard, Senior Policy Advisor at Insurance Europe, commented, “We fully support the EU’s goal of strengthening its digital foundations. But to be effective, this must start with building capacity and fostering innovation in Europe - not limiting EU companies in their choice of, or access to, existing, trusted global providers.”

Insurance Europe’s key messages:

• Invest and grow digital capacity: Enhancing European sovereignty should come through investment in infrastructure, compute capacity and R&D
• Insurers still need global providers: Currently, there are no viable European alternative that match the scale, performance, or security of established global providers.
• Protectionist agendas won’t work: Restrictions could limit access to best-in-class technology, create legal uncertainty, and harm innovation and European competitiveness.