Simplification for a more competitive insurance sector
Europe needs a regulatory framework that protects consumers and supports competitiveness. Today, insurers face layers of overlapping rules and reporting obligations that absorb resources that could otherwise strengthen protection, improve services and support long term investment.
Simplification does not lower standards. It increases impact. A clearer, more proportionate framework keeps safeguards in place while removing unnecessary complexity.
Why insurers are calling to simplify smartly
Europe’s rules have grown dense over time. This reduces efficiency and ultimately affects consumers. As highlighted in the report:
Frees resources for progress
Insurers spend time and money producing hundreds of pages of repetitive reports. Cutting duplication would release capacity for faster digital claims, climate-resilient products and green investment.
Protects people without waste
A proportionate framework preserves the strongest safeguards while avoiding rules that deliver little benefit.
Keeps cover affordable
Constant rule changes increase compliance costs and make planning difficult. More stability allows insurers to invest in innovation, infrastructure and the transition.
What needs to change
The simplification agenda should focus on practical steps that reduce overlap, streamline frameworks and improve proportionality across the sector. The paper identifies six areas where this has immediate impact.
Prudential, compliance and reporting
Insurers face dense layers of reporting and supervisory requirements across Solvency II, the Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive (IRRD), anti-money laundering and international tax rules. Many of these obligations overlap or repeat information that supervisors already receive. Simplifying the structure, focusing on material risks and applying proportionality consistently would release significant resources without reducing safeguards.
What simplification delivers
Key steps
Publications
Contacts