Looking Back To Navigate Forward: What The EU Supervisors’ 2025 Annual Reports Reveal For 2026

QuickTake

Between March and July 2026, the EU’s principal financial supervisory authorities published their 2025 annual reports. Publications from the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and, in the Banking Union context, the European Central Bank (ECB) in its Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) role and the Single Resolution Board (SRB) in its Single Resolution Mechanism role, reveal a system in which framework development and active supervision increasingly coexist, with the balance shifting toward implementation monitoring and enforcement. National competent authorities’ (NCAs) activities are steered by EU-level priorities, though supervisory intensity and legal powers vary significantly across sectors. The centre of gravity is moving from constructing rules to demonstrating that rules work