State of the Union 2025: What It Means for Insurance, Finance and Innovation

President von der Leyen just delivered the 2025 State of the Union.

The speech was heavy on geopolitics, but there are important signals for financial services, insurance and innovation.

Competitiveness & markets

• A Single Market Roadmap to 2028 and a “28th Regime” aim to cut fragmentation and make cross-border activity easier.
• Work is being accelerated on the Savings and Investments Union.
• The European Innovation Act and Industrial Accelerator Act are designed to strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity and industrial base.
• Omnibus packages promise to reduce red tape for companies operating in multiple member states.

Finance & capital

• Because Europe has many high-potential startups in areas like quantum, AI and biotech, limited risk capital often forces them abroad, leading to a loss of jobs, wealth and tech sovereignty.
• To counter this, the Commission will partner with private investors on a multi-billion euro Scaleup Europe Fund, targeting young, fast-growing companies in critical technologies.

Technology & data

• A new EU Cloud and AI Development Act

Fairness & consumer protection

• The Digital Fairness Act targets manipulative online design and strengthens transparency, relevant to digital distribution, onboarding and claims handling.

The message is clear: less fragmentation, more capital for European scale-ups, stricter fairness standards, and stronger innovation capacity.

Read full speech here.