On 10th December 2025, the International Association of Mutual Benefit Societies (AIM) and the Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives in Europe (AMICE), the voice of the mutual & cooperative insurance sector in Europe, held a workshop with the European Commission. Experts represented 14 mutuals active in the European Union (Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland,Portugal) and provided insights on the functioning of mutuals in their Member States. Most of them are long established insurance and social protection organisations, with a strong heritage of protecting people from the impacts of all types of risks and financial shocks, as well as ill-health, unemployment or old age.

The objective of the workshop was to take stock of the activities of mutuals and their respective legal frameworks. It showcased the activities of mutuals, such as insurance activities and health institutional  actors, but also looked at the specificities of mutuals compared to other actors, how their governance contributes to the empowerment of their members and their role in closing protection gaps.

This report explores their model and how their legal recognition across Member States could be beneficial to European citizens and Member States’ economies. It will then look at the Social Economy (SE) more generally, as a major asset of the European economy, mutual enterprises being an integral part of the European SE. Finally, the report focuses on the role of mutuals in the transitions (social, environmental, demographic, digital and democratic as well as inclusivity).