The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a consultation on a draft supervisory statement that would complement compliance-based supervision of insurance-based investment product (IBIP) sales with greater scrutiny of whether sales processes and pre-contractual disclosures support informed consumer decisions. The approach would promote more consistent, proportionate and risk-based supervision under the existing regulatory framework, without creating new requirements, reporting obligations or a prescribed supervisory methodology. The proposal responds to EIOPA’s findings that procedural sales processes, lengthy or complex disclosures and sales assessments may not always make existing consumer safeguards effective. National supervisors would focus on weaknesses that materially affect consumer understanding, decision-making or the operation of those safeguards, recognizing that additional information, documentation or process steps do not necessarily improve outcomes. This advances EIOPA’s broader work to simplify product disclosures and sales processes while maintaining consumer protection. EIOPA is seeking examples of unnecessary complexity or duplication and views on simplification priorities, safeguards and trade-offs. It expects to finalize the statement in the first quarter of 2027, while feedback may also inform future work related to the Retail Investment Strategy, including simple advice and suitability and appropriateness.

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