GDV in Brussels

Europe is more important today than ever before. Our world is becoming larger and more interconnected. The challenges posed by things like climate change or digitalization continue to grow. The future that is being negotiated in Europe is also the future of insurers.

The European Union creates legislation for 450 million people. These regulations determine what our lives will be like in the future. How we treat nature and the climate. How we invest. How we move around new digital worlds. The great challenges of our time know no boundaries. Hence, we must solve them together.

Insurers are playing a major role in shaping transformation processes in Europe. This includes numerous areas, among which are some of the greatest challenges of the century such as climate protection or the right way to handle digitalization. But it also involves practical issues such as capital market efficiency or taxation.

There is a close link between the future of Europe and the future of insurers, who play a key role in the economy as risk carriers and long-term investors. These two crucial functions mean that insurers have a large part in shaping important transformation processes. Take climate protection, for example: The investment portfolio of primary insurers alone comprises around 1.5 trillion euros, with many insurers already take sustainability and ESG (i.e. environmental protection, social aspects, and good corporate governance) criteria into account for new investments.

The GDV is actively involved in turning the vision of Europe into reality time and again. This is a reality that the over 460 German insurance companies represented by the GDV can help to shape. They offer more than 460 million insurance contracts – in Germany and beyond.

Brussels is one of the hubs where people work on the European idea and its implementation. This is the metropolis in which Europe lives. People from all over the continent meet here to lead the community into a new generation and to continue the dream. A large part of the European administration is located here: people who deliberate on laws and regulations. Who are firm believers and want to lead the European Union through any challenges and into a new future.

This epicenter of law-shaping is also home to the German Insurance Association (GDV), one of the largest representatives of the European insurance industry. The GDV is on site when important political decisions are being made. With its international team of experts, it acts as an interface between the politics of Brussels and the members of the GDV. This association is therefore well-versed in the local legislative environment and knows how to assess it.

The work of the GDV in Brussels is focused on exchange, dialog and cooperation: The international team records news and developments right in the center of the action. They put them into context and make them available to the GDV in Berlin and to its members. In addition, they provide important impulses. They inject the deep expertise of the insurers, their sense for hidden risks and their absorption into local decision-making processes. This involves staying in constant exchange while upholding both the necessary distance and proximity.

It is precisely within such a shared union that the will to change becomes important. As we all know, many changes are inevitable. They become necessary due to changes in our environment, economic upheavals or the occurrence of unforeseeable events.

But we humans are also capable of initiating changes – to shape our lives, and to safeguard the future of the next generation.

Counteracting climate change and its effects

Climate change is the greatest global challenge of our generation. Its progression will have a significant impact on the future of generations to come. But we ourselves are already feeling the effects of a world climate that is changing. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, increasing the burden on humans, animals, and nature.

The people of Europe and Germany are feeling this, too: Flash floods have already destroyed the livelihoods of large numbers of people, while forest fires and droughts are threatening vast areas of land.

Using sustainable investment strategies, we invest capital in a way that aims to make our world fit for the future. At a European level, we are also committed to ensuring that this capital is being used to support climate-friendly projects and to advance the sustainable transformation of our economy.

We want to create a foundation for end customers in Europe to be insured as comprehensively as possible against damages caused by climate change.

Europe is a place of innovation – a powerhouse of creativity. This creativity helps us to raise our standards and continuously drive our economic development. New technologies are shaping the future, with artificial intelligence leading the way.

We are committed to ensuring that this technology is further developed with the interests of humankind in mind. The European Union is in the process of creating a framework for this. We support the view that new digital spaces must not be legal vacuums. At the same time, we want to promote innovation in the interest of our members. Regulations must provide incentives that inspire people to create something new. For us in Europe, it is important to further encourage an entrepreneurial and inventive spirit.

We enter into dialog for the benefit of our members. We listen carefully. We offer up our expertise. We disagree at the right moments. We challenge and encourage, with the intention of getting the most out of the regulatory process and actively creating a better Europe. This is the purpose we aspire to.

Gesamt­ver­band der Deut­schen Ver­si­che­rungs­wirt­schaft e.V.
Rue du Champ de Mars 23
B-1050 Brussels

Phone: (+32) 2 28247 30
Fax: (+49) 30 2020-6140
E-Mail: bruessel@gdv.de