The initial precursor of EIOPA was the Conference of the Insurance Supervisory Services of European Community Countries (French: conférence des services de contrôle des assurances), established in 1957 and thus predating both the Groupe de Contact for banking supervisors (1972) and the Chairs' informal group for securities commissions (1989).

It was composed of high level representatives from the insurance and occupational pensions supervisory authorities of the European Union's Member States.

[5] EIOPA acts in the field of activities of insurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings, financial conglomerates, institutions for occupational retirement provision and insurance intermediaries, in relation to issues not directly covered in the acts referred to in the EIOPA Regulation Article 1.2, including matters of corporate governance, auditing and financial reporting, provided that such actions by the Authority are necessary to ensure the effective and consistent application of those acts.

To achieve the tasks above, EIOPA was also conferred the powers to develop draft regulatory technical standards and implementing technical standards, to issue guidelines and recommendations, to take individual decisions addressed to competent authorities or financial institutions in the specific cases, develop common methodologies for assessing the effect of product characteristics and distribution processes, and so on.

Besides the same tasks shared with ESMA, EIOPA still needs to foster the protection of policyholders, pension scheme members and beneficiaries.