National Regulatory Authorities or Transmission System Operators have to carry out one or more consultations regarding the national tariff structure. ACER started the review of the national tariff consultation documents in March 2018.

Following the first tariff consultation processes in 2018-2019, network users improved their understanding about tariffs. The national consultations showed increased confidence of network users, including their potential deficiencies.

Most consultations attracted a significant number of stakeholder responses. Only in a few select cases a handful of stakeholders reacted, reflecting a low level of market development and potentially a low level of trust in the consultation process.​

​​​ACER is highly committed in processing personal data in a lawful way.

The Agency processes personal data collected according to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.

ACER only processes personal data for the performance of tasks carried out in the public interest in accordance with European Union law or whilst legitimately exercising the official authority vested to the Agency. Furthermore, the processing of personal data is lawful as a part of a legal or contractual obligation or when the data subject concerned has given his or her unambiguous consent.

The Agency will not process personal data for marketing or commercial purposes.

The Agency's supervisory authority, in terms of processing personal data​​, is the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). The EDPS is responsible for the monitoring of European Union institutions, agencies and bodies and their compliance with data protection rules, ensuring that the rights to privacy and data protection are respected.

Data Pro​​tection Officer 

The Agency appointed a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure, in an independent manner, the internal application of data protection requirements.

The DPO's main functions are to:

• Inform data controllers and individuals regarding their obligations and rights pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725,
• Cooperate and consult with the EDPS,
• Ensure the transparency of Agency's processing operations. The DPO keeps a register of all personal data processing operations performed at the Agency,
• Advise on lawful processing of personal data, ensuring that data controllers respect the rights to privacy and data protection in the course of their work,
• Provide recommendations, develop guidelines to enhance good practice, organise training and awareness session for Agency' staff,
• Support the data subjects on the exercise of their rights,
• Provide advice with regards to data protection related breaches,
• Ensure in an independent manner the internal application of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.

ACER has the legal obligation to keep a register of all personal data processing operat​ions which have been notified to the Data Protection Officer (DPO). The register aims at ensuring transparency to the public and it is accessible to any interested person. The register contains the following information:

• The Agency's department processing personal data,
• Name of the processing operation,
• Purpose of the processing operation.

ACER processes any individual's personal data in compliance with the Regulation (EC) No 2018/1725.

The data privacy notices (DPN) describe the Agency's policies and practices regarding collection and use of personal data on different operations:

• Staff Administration: covering any processing activities ACER may carry out on data related to staff members, trainees, SNEs and interim staff.
• Interactions with Stakeholders: covering any contact persons within NRAs, energy market participants, organised marketplaces and other stakeholders the Agency may engage within the context of meetings, questionnaires, requests for feedback, roundtables, working groups, etc.
• ARIS and CMT:  covering any processing activities undergone on the REMIT Portal, including applications and platforms made available on the REMIT Portal.
• Financial Management:  covering any processing related to data of anyone entering into financial relationships / transactions with ACER, including other activities connected with the financial and budgetary management.
• ACER Website: acting as ACER Website Privacy Policy.
• ACER In-Person Events: covering any processing activities related to the organisation of ACER in-person events.
• ACER External Webinars and Online Events: covering any processing activities related to ACER online meetings and events.
• Meetings with ACER Director: covering the disclosure of information on individuals (self-employed or representing organisations) meeting with the Director.
• Recruitment and Selection: covering the data processing on applicants and candidates to traineeship programmes, staff positions or assignments.
• Procurement and Contract Management: covering the data processing on tenderers and contractors concerning procurement procedures.
• ACER Offices: covering any processing operations on persons physically present at the Agency's premises (access control, CCTV and Wi-Fi).
• Electricity and Gas Information System (AE​GIS): covering any processing activities undergone on the AEGIS Portal, including applications and platforms made available therein.​
• Board of Appeal: covering any processing activities carried out in the context of proceedings before the Agency's Board of Appeal.
• RVT Requirements: covering processing of personal information in connection with the checks of adequate proof of COVID-19 recovery, vaccination or testing carried out when accessing ACER premises.
• EU-Sign services: covering how and why EU Sign processes, collects, handles and ensures protection of personal data provided and what rights can be exercised. 

ACER and national regulatory authorities (NRAs) work closely together to protect energy markets from abuse. 

Increased transparency and monitoring build confidence that energy markets work well for EU businesses and citizens and that prices are determined in a fair way.

The Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) is the EU framework that protects wholesale energy markets from abuse, ensuring open and fair competition.

REMIT prohibits two main forms of market abuse:

• insider trading (using undisclosed information to gain unfair advantage); and
• market manipulation (distorting market integrity or creating false or misleading market signals).

The Regulation sets rules to detect and prevent market abuse and establishes a system to monitor trading activities across the EU.

Since its adoption in 2011, EU legislators have updated REMIT to make it fit for purpose in a rapidly evolving energy landscape, where trading has become increasingly complex (e.g. through the use of algorithms). The Regulation was revised in 2024 to make wholesale energy markets more transparent and better monitored to deter abuse. This included: 

• Broadening the Regulation’s scope (now covering energy storage, hydrogen, electricity balancing and financial instruments).
• Better aligning EU rules on transparency and integrity of energy markets with the Union’s financial market rules.
• Granting ACER investigatory powers in cross-border cases (involving two or more Member States). This mandate complements national regulators’ investigatory authority, with ACER and NRAs working closely together. See ACER’s Rules of Procedure on how such cross-border investigations are conducted. REMIT enforcement continues to be at national level.

REMIT’s main purpose is to ensure trust among consumers, investors and market players in the EU energy market.

How?

• Prohibiting abusive practices: REMIT bans insider trading (i.e. using confidential information to trade) and market manipulation (artificially manipulating prices).
• Ensuring transparency: Companies are required to publish 'inside information' (such as planned power outages for maintenance or capacity changes), so that all players have access to the same data at the same time. This helps energy market transparency and integrity.
• Mandating data reporting: Market participants must report trading data, allowing national regulators and ACER to actively monitor and detect suspicious or fraudulent activities. 

ACER and national regulatory authorities (NRAs) work closely together to protect energy markets from abuse.

Many other parties cooperate and contribute to the transparency and integrity of wholesale energy markets under REMIT. These include market participants (e.g. traders, suppliers, producers), ‘organised market places’ (e.g. exchanges, brokers) and persons professionally arranging transactions (e.g. exchanges).

Anyone (including citizens) can notify a potential REMIT breach or suspicious behaviour through ACER’s REMIT Notification Platform. 

What do energy ‘market participants’ and ‘organised market places’ need to do?

1. Registration:

• Market participants: All entities wishing to participate in wholesale energy markets (e.g. energy traders, transmission system operators (TSOs)) must register with their national energy regulator.

• Organised market places (OMPs) must notify ACER to be included on a dedicated list (see the list of OMPs).

  Third-country participants (outside the EU, e.g. UK or USA) active on EU energy markets must designate an EU representative.

2. Reporting and disclosure: Once registered, market participants must:

• report wholesale energy transactions through authorised ‘registered reporting mechanisms' (RRMs); and
• publish ‘inside information’ promptly through authorised ‘inside information platforms' (IIPs).

3. ACER authorises and supervises inside information platforms and registered reporting mechanisms, ensuring that transaction data and inside information are submitted accurately and consistently across the EU.

• Inside information platforms (IIPs) are internet-based platforms where market participants can publish inside information. With the revised REMIT, it becomes mandatory to use IIPs for the disclosure of inside information. 
• Registered reporting mechanisms (RRMs) are entities that have the authority to submit data and transaction information to ACER. There are over 100 RRMs (see the list of approved RRMs). Authorisation is only available to RRMs that were founded within the European Union.

4. Regulatory oversight and enforcement:

• ACER collects and analyses EU-wide energy market data to identify potential REMIT breaches.
• REMIT enforcement is at national level. NRAs monitor and investigate potential breaches in their jurisdictions and apply sanctions where needed.
• ACER cooperates closely with national regulators and investigates cross-border cases.

ACER’s main activities under REMIT include:

• ​​​Collecting and analysing market data. 
• ​​​Monitoring wholesale energy markets to detect and deter market manipulation and abuse.
• ​​​Notifying manipulative behaviours to national regulators.
• Investigating cross-border market abuse cases.
• Supporting energy market transparency through tools like the REMIT Data Reference Centre, Inside Information Access Point and LNG price assessments.
• Promoting fair price formation, ensuring that wholesale electricity and gas prices are fair and competitive and reflect genuine supply-demand dynamics.
• Providing guidance and clarifications to help market participants and other relevant parties comply consistently with their REMIT obligations, including: 
  • Open letters, e.g. on reporting obligations after the 2024 revision of REMIT, on new obligations after the 2026 adoption of REMIT secondary legislation (respectively on the recast Implementing Regulation and new Delegated Regulation).
  • REMIT Guidance and other resources (including Q&As).

​ACER supports and actively contributes to the decarbonisation of the European gas sector. By ensuring efficient decarbonisation and competition measures, costs can be limited and consumers can benefit from lower prices. This is possible thanks to the work of national regulators, the European Commission, ACER and stakeholders who have been cooperating for more than ten years to integrate and create a pan European gas market, comprising also the Energy Community Contracting Parties.

What is the role of ACER?

Building upon the sustained efforts of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and the continuous support of all stakeholders, ACER's Gas Department is working towards meeting all the challenges associated with creating a well-functioning, competitive, integrated, secure and sustainable European gas market, delivering tangible benefits to the European consumers. Work still to be done includes aligning national market and network operation rules for gas as well as making cross-border investment in energy infrastructure easier.

To achieve these goals, ACER Gas Department has organised its activities in three teams:

• Network Codes

• Market Monitoring

• Infrastructure

Network Codes

​The Network Codes (NCs) are the fundamental rules regulating the efficient transmission of gas across Europe. They turn regulatory policies for cross-border and market integration issues into operational rules. ACER is responsible for drafting the initial framework guidelines that guide the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) and the European Commission in drafting and approving the Codes. The team is also responsible for issuing decisions, recommendations, opinions and NC implementation reports.

Gas Network Codes Functionality Platform

The Joint Functionality Process for Gas Network Codes was jointly set up by ACER and ENTSOG in 2016. The platform allows market parties to notify operational issues related to the gas Network Codes and their implementation.

The gas infrastructure team deals with various aspects of the development and the efficient, safe and secure operation of the gas industry infrastructure: pipelines, compressor stations, liquefied natural gas terminals and underground gas storage. ACER contributes to assessing how gas infrastructure developments may influence market integrity, competition, security of gas supply and sustainability. To do so, ACER works closely with NRAs, ENTSOG, project promoters, and the European Commission. The team also often liaises with colleagues from the Energy Community and other European entities.

The Agency closely monitors and assesses the development of the gas infrastructure in Europe through several activities, including the development and the implementation of the EU-wide 10-year network development plans (TYNDPs), gas regional investment plans (GRIPs), national infrastructure development plans (NDPs), and the selection of projects of common interest (PCIs). In all these domains, ACER provides Opinions, Recommendations or reports to advise and inform relevant stakeholders.

​Accurate monitoring is crucial to track the progress towards meeting the challenges of creating a well-functioning, competitive, integrated, secure, and sustainable European internal energy market. The Gas Market Monitoring team analyses the trends of:

• EU gas wholesale markets and the impact of Network Codes on its functioning,

• Retail energy markets, focusing particularly on price-related issues, as well as the status of consumer rights, empowerment and protection in the European energy market.

As a result of this intensive analysis, ACER produces an annual Market Monitoring Report​ (MMR). The report is considered by stakeholders as a reference to appraise the status of the European energy markets and to develop a sound energy policy. The MMR also identifies barriers to the completion of the internal gas market and recommends measures to overcome them.

The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) was established in March 2011 (Third Energy Package legislation) to foster cooperation among the EU’s energy National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and help ensure that a single Eu​​ropean market for electricity, and similarly natural gas​, functions well. ACER's headquarters are in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 

ACER is one of the EU decentralised agencies. Distinct from the EU institutions, agencies are set up as separate legal entities to perform specific technical and scientific tasks that help the EU institutions and Member States to implement policies and take decisions. EU agencies support the cooperation between the EU and national governments by pooling technical and specialist expertise. Besides working with a wide range of energy stakeholders, the EU institutions and policy makers, ACER works closely with other European agencies through the EU Agencies Network (EUAN). See the EUAN work programme 2023-2024.

ACER’s role includes:

• Supporting the integration of energy markets in the EU (by common rules at EU level).
• Contributing to efficient trans-European energy infrastructure, ensuring alignment with EU priorities.
• Monitoring energy markets so that they function well, deterring wholesale energy market manipulation and abusive behaviour.
• Where necessary, coordinating cross-national regulatory action.

​Our overall purpose is achieving a transition of the European energy system in line with the political objectives set, reaping benefits of increased energy market integration across Europe, and securing low-carbon supply at least possible cost for European businesses and citizens.

The Agency promotes:

• a more competitive, integrated market, offering consumers more choice
• an efficient energy infrastructure and networks, enabling energy to move freely across borders, the integration of renewable sources, and therefore ensuring a higher degree of security of supply
• a monitored and transparent energy market guaranteeing consumers fair prices and a limitation of market abusive behaviours

Watch the video & discover what ACER does for you.