Unless the EU’s Financial Data Access (FIDA) proposal is simplified it risks becoming “overly costly, complex and counterproductive,” Insurance Europe has warned, urging policymakers to take its four recommendations on board to ensure the framework is focused, proportionate, and aligned with real market needs.

As discussions among Member States continue under the Danish EU Presidency this week, the federation

The EU's FIDA aims to create a framework for the mandatory sharing of financial data between companies with customer consent. The Federation recognizes the efforts by negotiators to align the proposal with the principles of simplification, proportionality, and competitiveness. However, Insurance Europe warns that, without significant changes, FIDA risks causing considerable harm rather than delivering benefits to customers or the broader financial sector.

Arthur Hilliard, Senior Policy Advisor at Insurance Europe, remarked: “There is still time to fix FIDA so that it is simpler and less costly. Europe needs smart rules that fuel innovation - not costly obligations that slow us down at a time when we should be razor-focused on delivering for people, businesses and the economy.”

Insurance Europe sets out four key recommendations that must be taken into account before moving forward:
 

• Further simplification on scope and timeline: Limit the products in scope based on market demand. Reinsurance undertakings and large corporates should be excluded, and implementation timelines should be extended across all three phases.
• Greater legal clarity to reduce uncertainty and burden: Clearly define the “customer” as the policyholder in insurance. Explicitly exclude sensitive personal data, commercially sensitive data, insurance products involving health data, results of suitability and appropriateness assessments, and any blanket real-time data-sharing requirements.
• Ensure a level playing field: Gatekeepers and third-country Financial Information Service Providers (FISPs) should be excluded from accessing customer data. Authorization of FISPs should be subject to regular review, not a one-off approval.
• Restrict mandatory data-sharing to approved schemes: Mandatory data-sharing should occur only within approved financial data-sharing schemes to ensure compliance, fair compensation, and secure handling. Voluntary sharing outside these schemes should remain possible.