EFPA Europe Advances EU Advocacy Agenda with Key Institutional Meetings
Brussels, 22 June 2026 — Building on the joint FECIF–EFPA letter to Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque — and the positive response received from her Cabinet in June — EFPA Europe has continued to advance its EU advocacy agenda through a series of high-level institutional meetings in Brussels.
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Meeting with EC EMPL.B5 – 2 June 2026
EFPA Vice Chair Marta Gellová met in Brussels with Mr Steven Engels, Head of Unit EMPL.B5 (Professional Qualifications and Skills for Competitiveness), to discuss EFPA’s professional standards work and the Commission’s forthcoming Skills Portability Initiative, expected to be adopted in September 2026.
The initiative focuses on transparency and recognition of qualifications, modernisation of recognition procedures, and third-country qualification recognition. While financial advisors are unlikely to fall within the current regulatory scope due to the threshold of nine Member States required for regulated professions, EFPA highlighted that financial advisory standards already derive in large part from EU legislation, including MiFID and ESMA guidelines. EFPA also put forward its proposal for a pan-European professional label for financial advisors as a potential avenue for future engagement. The meeting was productive and EFPA will continue to monitor developments closely.
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EESC Closed-Door Meeting on ECO/699 – 4 June 2026
EFPA President Josep Soler participated in a closed-door exchange organised by the EESC rapporteur on opinion ECO/699, “The Role of Civil Society for Improving Financial Literacy”, alongside a small group of invited stakeholders.
On behalf of EFPA, Mr Soler presented the association’s financial literacy initiatives across Europe and positioned EFPA as a source of validated content for policymakers — particularly on complex financial topics and retirement planning. He also made the case that EFPA-certified professionals, bound by a code of ethics and accountable to an independent oversight body, provide a meaningful safeguard against the growing risks posed by unqualified financial influencers.
EFPA put forward five concrete requests to policymakers:
– Recognition of professional certification as a quality seal
– Active promotion of certification for financial influencers
– Support for a European network connecting actors in financial literacy
– Stable funding for qualified volunteering and content creation
– A clear policy framework distinguishing financial education from regulated financial advice
Following the meeting, EFPA shared supporting materials with the rapporteur, including an overview of its pan-European financial literacy initiatives, the 2025 Financial Health of Europeans report, and information on the continuation of the EFPA financial health project.
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Meeting with ESMA – 17 June 2026
EFPA met with Mr Salvatore Gnoni, Head of Unit for Investor Protection and Intermediaries at ESMA, with EFPA Austria Chair Claudia Figl, EFPA Spain Executive Director Josep Soler, and EFPA General Manager Stefka Topalova attending on behalf of EFPA.
The discussion covered financial literacy in the context of the Savings and Investments Union, the role of finfluencers, and MiCA implementation. ESMA confirmed it does not view financial literacy as a substitute for investor protection or regulated advice — a position that directly echoes the arguments made in the joint EFPA–FECIF letter to Commissioner Albuquerque. Mr Gnoni noted ESMA’s active monitoring of the digital environment, including engagement with social media platforms on unauthorised financial services, and flagged the risks of AI tools being used as a substitute for regulated advice. On MiCA, EFPA presented its work to develop dedicated crypto-asset certifications and raised questions about the interaction between MiCA and MiFID II competence frameworks, with a future exchange with ESMA’s specialised teams identified as a potential next step.
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These meetings reflect EFPA’s sustained commitment to engaging with EU institutions on issues central to the organisation’s mission: professional standards, investor protection, and the role of financial advisors in a healthy savings and investment ecosystem. They follow directly from the positions articulated in the joint FECIF–EFPA letter to Commissioner Albuquerque, and signal EFPA’s intent to translate that high-level advocacy into ongoing institutional dialogue.
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For media enquiries, please contact the EFPA Europe communications team at info@efpa-eu.org.