EIOPA was established in 2011, in a time of economic turbulence.
Over the years, EIOPA has significantly contributed to strengthening supervision in the insurance and pension sectors across the EU, steadily raising the bar in terms of consumer protection, risk assessment, and transparency across products and services.
Watch our 15th anniversary movie to better understand what was EIOPA's first mission, what are EIOPA's greatest strengths, as well as its future priorities.
EIOPA was founded in response to the 2008 financial crisis – when the need for stronger, more coordinated supervision in financial services had become nothing less than an existential imperative.
From the very beginning, EIOPA's focus was to safeguard financial stability and protect consumers against detriment. In practice, this meant working on mutual trust and dialogue within the supervisory community.
It also meant, in the first years of EIOPA, full focus on the implementation of Solvency II – a framework that placed risk-based supervision at the core of the European insurance sector, with major implications for industry and supervisors alike.
When it came into effect, it marked a seismic shift in the way we assess and manage risk, as it helped build a new culture of risk management, transparency and accountability across the entire sector.
Since then, through successive crises – from the Covid-19 pandemic to recurring geopolitical tensions – the insurance and pension sectors have proven their resilience, thanks in no small part to the robust frameworks we have built together.
Beyond Solvency II and prudential supervision, safeguarding the interests of policyholders and pension scheme members has been essential to EIOPA's mission and central to fostering a healthy, dynamic market, in which we strive to ensure adequate protection beyond national borders.
In this context, the attention for pensions and pension savings has increased significantly. Progress was also made on the Retail Investment Strategy (RIS), and, since the early days of the IDD, Europe’s regulatory landscape has developed immensely, moving its focus from prudential to also conduct and value for money.
Over the past years, EIOPA has contributed to more robust and resilient insurance and pension sectors, and a stronger, more stable market in which citizens are better protected.
The challenges ahead – from climate change and digital transformation to demographic decline and a new world order on its way – demand our continued commitment, innovation and unity.