II.3.2.
What is inside information?
Answer: Article 2 of REMIT defines “inside information” by means of the following four criteria information of a (1) precise nature, (2) which has not been made public, (3) which relates, directly or indirectly, to one or more wholesale energy products (4) and which, if it were made public, would be likely to significantly affect the prices of those wholesale energy products.
In its non-binding Guidance on the application of the definition of inside information, the Agency considers that, in view of the current limited experiences with the application of the definition of inside information in the wholesale energy market, the notion of “inside information” should currently be primarily understood in relation to:
• information which is required to be made public in accordance with Regulations (EC) No 714/No 714/2009[1] and (EC) No 715/2009[2], including guidelines and network codes adopted pursuant to those Regulations. This includes information referred to in Commission Regulation (EU) No 543/2013[3], which amends the guidelines annexed to Regulation (EC) No 714/2009;
• information relating to the capacity and use of facilities for production, storage, consumption or transmission of electricity or natural gas or related to the capacity and use of LNG facilities, including planned or unplanned unavailability of these facilities; and
• information which is required to be disclosed in accordance with other legal or regulatory provisions at Union or national level, insofar as this information is likely to have a significant effect on the prices of wholesale energy products.
Experience will show which kind of other information is likely to have a significant effect on the prices of one or more wholesale electricity products if made public.
These considerations apply until more experience is gained about the notion of inside information in wholesale energy markets. The Agency believes that respect of the aforementioned transparency requirements is currently essential to avoid breaches of inside information rules.
Further guidance on this subject will be provided by the Agency as soon as more experience on the application of REMIT is gained, as the definition of inside information will evolve overtime.
[1] Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchanges in electricity. [2] Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005. [3] Commission Regulation (EU) No 543/2013 of 14 June 2013 on submission and publication of data in electricity markets and amending Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.