The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has submitted its response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the functioning of the commodity derivatives markets, with a focus on the interplay between energy and financial market regulation. 

ACER believes that it is of importance to add sector-specific context to the consultation with respect to the functioning of wholesale energy markets and the specifics of Regulation No 1227/2011 on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT). The fundamental differences between financial and energy markets are the reason why Europe has (since 2011) a dedicated and highly successful energy-sector specific framework to ensure open and fair competition in Europe’s wholesale energy markets. 

ACER’s input to this consultation draws on many years of experience of national energy regulators enforcing REMIT, and ACER as the EU energy regulatory agency, protecting consumers and citizens from energy market manipulation and abuse (through its monitoring activities). It outlines the evolution of the REMIT framework with the revised Regulation (2024), including ACER’s evolving role as a wholesale energy market data reference centre.

Put simply, ACER’s position is that European consumers and businesses benefit enormously from the sophisticated EU-wide (REMIT) framework that protects energy markets from abuse. REMIT plays a crucial role in ensuring fairness, transparency and integrity of the wholesale energy market and as such should be the starting point for any further enhancements.

ACER’s response covers different aspects of the consultation, including:

• data aspects;
• position limits, management and reporting; and
• supervisory cooperation.

ACER recommends building on what already works well under REMIT and financial legislation, and to further strengthen the cooperation with the EU Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in areas such as data sharing, notifications to energy and financial regulators, coordination mechanisms and best practices exchange.

The Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) is the EU framework that aims to prevent wholesale energy market abuse and support fair competition. The regulation was amended in 2024 to ensure the regulatory framework keeps pace with evolving market dynamics.

Now, ACER has updated its Questions & Answers (Q&As) on REMIT to incorporate the changes introduced in the amended regulation. 

The Q&A document (first published in 2011) summarises frequently asked questions about REMIT and their answers. It provides market participants and other stakeholders with information on REMIT definitions, market participant obligations, transaction reporting, and more.

What’s new in the updated Q&As?

This 30^th edition aims to align the document’s legal references with the revised regulation and clarify key concepts, including:

• new obligations for third-country market participants;

• order book reporting by organised marketplaces; and

• the expansion of REMIT’s scope to include new products (such as energy storage and hydrogen). 

The revised Q&As provide clearer explanations of reporting and compliance aspects, helping market participants to better understand the new requirements.

For additional questions about REMIT implementation and data reporting, stakeholders are encouraged to:

• check ACER guidance documents; or

• submit their queries via the REMIT query form.

The fine imposed on Energi Danmark A/S (Energi Danmark) is based on a report made by the Danish energy regulatory authority (Danish Utility Regulator, DUR) in March 2024, which was referred to the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime. 

This penalty comes under the REMIT Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011, which prohibits market manipulation and seeks to protect the integrity and transparency of the EU’s wholesale energy markets.

According to energy regulator (DUR) and the Danish state prosecutor, the misconduct, which took place on 3 January 2020, included five cases of electricity market manipulation and one attempt to do so in violation of Article 5 of REMIT. Through its behaviour, called 'cross-zonal capacity hoarding', the company acquired all, or a significant share of, the capacity available on an electricity transmission connection between two bidding areas by trading with itself. In this way, Energi Danmark prevented other market participants from using the capacity, thereby creating or increasing a price difference between the two bidding areas. 

DUR estimated the financial gain from the conduct at DKK 80,693 (approximately EUR 10,800). The prosecutor fined Energi Danmark 380,000 DKK (approximately EUR 50,900), which Energi Danmark has accepted to pay. 

In December 2018, Energi Danmark had already agreed to pay a fine of DKK 750,000 (approximately EUR 100,500) for violating the same REMIT regulation prohibition of market manipulation, which DUR emphasised as an aggravating circumstance in its report. 

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) welcomes this third decision related to the hoarding of cross-border electricity transmission capacity in Denmark. ACER emphasises the importance of vigorous enforcement to enhance public trust in the EU’s electricity markets and protect European consumers from market abuse.

Access DUR’s press release (in Danish).

Access ACER’s Guidance Note on cross-zonal capacity hoarding. Also check the ACER REMIT Guidance (6.1^st edition) for more information on the types of trading practices which could constitute market manipulation under REMIT.

See the latest table of REMIT breach sanction decisions adopted by national regulatory authorities.

Interested in further information on enforcement decisions under REMIT? Check out ACER’s REMIT Quarterly reports.

On 20 January 2025, the Dispute Settlement and Sanctions Committee (CoRDiS) of the French energy regulatory authority (CRE) imposed an €8 million fine on Danske Commodities A/S and a €4 million fine on Equinor ASA for manipulating annual capacity auctions at the virtual interconnection point between France and Spain (PIR Pirineos) in 2019 and 2020.

These penalties come under the REMIT Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011, which prohibits market manipulation and seeks to protect the integrity and transparency of the EU’s wholesale energy markets.

In its decision, CoRDiS found that Danske Commodities A/S, in collusion with Equinor ASA, had booked higher volumes of transmission capacity than those offered in the first round of PRISMA annual gas capacity auctions for PIR Pirineos in July 2019 and July 2020. This was done without the intention of acquiring such capacity, sending false or misleading signals regarding the demand for annual gas transmission capacity from France to Spain via the PIR Pirineos interconnection point.

The investigation revealed that the objective of this behaviour was to create market congestion and prevent the application of multipliers to the prices of gas transmission capacities on the infra-annual market, which are meant to incentivise the booking of annual transmission capacities. By placing non-genuine offers in the first round of auctions for annual gas transmission capacity and creating congestion, Danske Commodities A/S and Equinor ASA prevented the application of multipliers, reducing the price of gas transmission capacities on the infra-annual market and setting the market price at an artificial level.

CoRDiS considers this behaviour a violation of REMIT Article 5, which prohibits actions that give or are likely to give false or misleading signals about the supply, demand, or price of wholesale energy products, or which secure or are likely to secure the price at an artificial level.

ACER welcomes this first REMIT decision of 2025 and appreciates CRE’s continued efforts to strengthen market integrity.

Access the CoRDiS decision, CoRDiS' press release and CRE's press release (all in French).

See the latest table of REMIT breach sanction decisions adopted by national regulatory authorities.

Check the ACER REMIT Guidance (6.1st edition) for more information on the types of trading practices which could constitute market manipulation under REMIT.

Interested in further information on enforcement decisions under REMIT? Check out ACER’s REMIT Quarterly reports.

ACER’s REMIT Quarterly provides updates on the Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) and related activities, including insights into the 2024 revision of the REMIT Regulation to help stakeholders stay informed on changes that enhance transparency and integrity in the European energy market.

What is in the latest REMIT Quarterly?

The 39th edition covers the fourth quarter of 2024 and includes:

• ACER’s work on data reporting following the revised REMIT.
• Key takeaways from two joint roundtable meetings (26 and 28 November 2024) with Registered Reporting Mechanisms (RRMs), Inside Information Platforms (IIPs), Associations of Energy Market Participants (AEMPs) and Organised Market Places (OMPs), which discussed the upcoming revision of the REMIT Implementing Regulation, and shared updates on data reporting guidance.
• Minutes of the 3rd and 4th Expert groups’ meetings on Wholesale Energy Market Data Reporting and on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency.
• Obligations for hydrogen market participants to disclose inside information.
• Updates on guidance documents on REMIT transaction reporting and trends in data reporting, including top 5 reporting entities.
• Overview of REMIT breach cases in 2024, with 390 cases under review at the end of Q4.
• Summary of 2024 trading activities on Organised Market Places.

The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) has imposed a €6 million fine on GESTERNOVA S.A. and a €1.5 million fine on AXPO IBERIA for manipulating the Spanish electricity market between 30 September and 30 December 2022.

These penalties come under the REMIT Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011, which prohibits market manipulation and seeks to protect the integrity and transparency of the EU’s wholesale energy markets.

In its decisions, CNMC found that GESTERNOVA S.A. and AXPO IBERIA had breached Article 5 of REMIT by manipulating the continuous intraday market by:

• Giving false or misleading signals regarding the supply of wholesale energy products, through behaviour known as ‘quote stuffing’.
• Issuing (and also withdrawing in AXPO IBERIA’s case) non-genuine orders to be in an advantageous position to execute cross-border sales with France.

CNMC’s investigation revealed that GESTERNOVA S.A. and AXPO IBERIA, in multiple sessions of this period, issued (or also withdrew in AXPO IBERIA’s case) non-genuine sell orders by using algorithmic trading with the goal of monopolising the order book queue for the D+1 product. Their behaviour blocked other market participants’ orders from being accepted in the order queue. Consequently, at the start of the trading session, one or more of GESTERNOVA S.A.’s and AXPO IBERIA's sell orders were prioritised at the top of the order book, ready to be the first matched once additional capacity would become available at the interconnection with France.

CNMC considers the behaviour as “quote stuffing” (defined in 6.1st edition of ACER REMIT Guidance as entering a large number of orders to trade and/or cancellations and/or updates to orders to trade so as to create uncertainty for other participants, slowing down their process, and/or to camouflage one’s own strategy).

ACER welcomes the rigour of CNMC’s enforcement with these third and fourth CNMC market manipulation decisions this year.

Access the GESTERNOVA Decision and AXPO Decision, together with CNMC’s GESTERNOVA press release and AXPO press release (both in Spanish).

See the latest ACER table of REMIT breach sanction decisions adopted by national regulatory authorities.

Check the ACER REMIT Guidance (6.1st edition) for more information on the types of trading practices which could constitute market manipulation under REMIT.

Interested in further information on enforcement decisions under REMIT? Check out ACER’s REMIT Quarterly reports.

Check out ACER latest guidance on REMIT and LNG data reporting, updated in December 2024 to align them with the revised REMIT Regulation.

ACER publishes today an updated edition of its Guidance on REMIT application, reflecting the changes introduced by the revised REMIT Regulation.

ACER regularly produces and updates a non-binding Guidance for National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), market participants and other relevant stakeholders, to ensure effective coordination and consistency in the application of REMIT. This guidance ensures that REMIT requirements are well explained and uniformly applied, providing clarity and direction to NRAs, market participants and other relevant stakeholders.                          

What are the main updates?

The revised Guidance:

• Updates definitions to align them with the revised REMIT Regulation, including the concepts of market manipulation, wholesale energy products and persons professionally arranging or executing transactions (PPAETs).
• Reflects the expanded scope of REMIT’s application on data reporting: covering new products, electricity balancing markets, coupled markets and algorithmic trading. It also clarifies the extension of REMIT’s market abuse provisions to wholesale energy products that also qualify as financial instruments.
• Clarifies the concept and obligations of the PPAETs under Article 15.
• Corrects wording and references to ensure consistency with the revised REMIT Regulation.

This update was delivered after extensive consultation with NRAs, REMIT experts, and members of the Market Surveillance Forum. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) was also consulted in the process to ensure accuracy.

What are the next steps?

ACER invites NRAs and relevant stakeholders to follow the ACER Guidance while implementing the revised REMIT Regulation. Further revisions are not anticipated until all implementing and delegated acts are in place.

The EU framework that aims to prevent wholesale energy market abuse and support fair competition (REMIT) was revised in May 2024 to keep pace with evolving market dynamics. Following the ongoing discussions with relevant stakeholders after the adoption of the revised REMIT, ACER publishes today the updated:

• Transaction Reporting User Manual (TRUM) and its Annexes; and
• Guidance on reporting LNG market data.

These guidance documents help market participants with their data reporting obligations.

ACER has also released the minutes of the November roundtable meeting on data reporting.

What’s new in these ACER guidance documents?

• TRUM and its Annexes: the amendments mainly focus on clarifying the definition of Organised Marketplaces (OMPs), outlining their criteria and characteristics. This update aligns TRUM with the revised REMIT and aims to create a consistent understanding to help market participants, regulators, and other stakeholders identify and assess OMPs.
• Guidance on reporting LNG market data: the update aligns the legal references of the document with the revised REMIT, which now includes the collection of LNG market data for the publication of ACER’s daily LNG price assessment and benchmark.  

The updated TRUM and its Annexes are available in the REMIT Knowledge Base.

What was the roundtable meeting about?

On 26 and 28 November 2024, ACER organised a roundtable meeting on data reporting.

The event featured a joint session with the European Commission and gathered Associations of Energy Market Participants (AEMPs), OMPs, Registered Reporting Mechanisms (RRMs) and Inside Information Platforms (IIPs) to discuss the upcoming revision of the REMIT Implementing Regulation and other changes introduced by the updated REMIT. Stakeholders also received updates on the REMIT data reporting framework, including the TRUM.

The 7th annual Energy Trading Enforcement Forum (ETEF), held on the 3 December 2024 in Ljubljana, brought together over 75 participants from the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), energy National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), and financial National Conduct Authorities (NCAs) to enhance regulatory cooperation in energy and financial markets.

Regulatory framework and cooperation

Regulatory oversight of potential market abuse of the trading in energy and financial products falls under two EU regulatory frameworks, namely the EU Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) and the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR).

The ETEF is a key platform where energy and financial regulators and the two EU Agencies (ESMA and ACER) meet annually to share experiences on their supervisory activities and enforcement actions to better protect EU consumers and businesses from energy market abuse.

Revised REMIT, market abuse cases and Artificial Intelligence (AI) top the agenda

A key focus of the 7th annual ETEF discussions was on the enhanced REMIT regulatory framework.  The revised REMIT Regulation (which came into effect on 7 May 2024) introduces new measures to better protect the EU citizens and businesses from energy market abuse.

• It brings a closer alignment of the EU definitions and provisions for transparency and integrity of energy markets with those in the financial markets.
• It grants ACER new investigatory and enforcement powers in certain cross-border cases.
• Furthermore, it calls for a reinforced cooperation between energy and financial regulators, strengthening their ability to detect, prevent, investigate and enforce the prohibition of market abuse in energy markets.

This year’s ETEF also consolidated the cooperation principles for market abuse cases which simultaneously fall under REMIT and MAR (i.e. cases involving wholesale energy products which are also financial instruments). Such cases need close cooperation to ensure effective enforcement among all national and European authorities involved.

The growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in energy and financial markets’ trading was also a major topic of interest, together with the sharing of regulatory experience in detecting and investigating the most common types of market abuse.

For more information on the work of ACER and ESMA to protect energy and financial markets from abuse, visit the dedicated pages on the ACER and ESMA websites. 

REMIT is the EU framework that aims to prevent wholesale energy market abuse and support fair competition. The REMIT regulation was recently revised to ensure the regulatory framework keeps pace with evolving market dynamics. Regulation 2024/1106 entered into force on 8 May 2024. As part of this revision, the European Commission is mandated to revise the REMIT Implementing Regulation by 8 May 2025. This update is aimed at defining new rules and requirements for data reporting under REMIT.

To aid the Commission’s revision process, ACER ran a public consultation (28 June to 16 September 2024) to collect input on proposed revisions to the Annex of the REMIT Implementing Regulation.

Key findings from the consultation

ACER thanks the 92 respondents for their input, which has been analysed and summarised in ACER’s evaluation of responses report. The document provided the basis for discussions at the roundtable meetings (26 and 28 November 2024) on data reporting.

The consultation respondents:

• Stressed the need for maintaining a stable and well-functioning data reporting framework.
• Provided detailed feedback on different sections of the Annex, questioning the feasibility and necessity of the proposed changes.
• Emphasised the importance of allowing sufficient time to implement new reporting requirements.

The individual responses will be made available on the ACER website.

What are the next steps? 

• The outcomes of ACER public consultation and roundtable meetings will contribute to the ongoing discussion with the European Commission on the revision of the REMIT Implementing Regulation.
• The Commission will then amend the Implementing Regulation to define the new data reporting requirements by 8 May 2025.

ACER will continue to provide timely updates and guidance notes e.g.:

• ACER open letter (17 April 2024) on the main changes the revised REMIT brings.
• ACER open letter (30 July 2024) on the notification requirements for algorithmic trading (including examples of trading algorithms that fall within the scope of the new requirement).
• ACER open letter (25 September 2024) on the designation of representatives by non-EU market participants and on the new obligations of persons professionally arranging or executing transactions (PPAETs) under the revised REMIT.
• Updated Transaction Reporting User Manual (version 7 is expected to be published by end of Q4 2024/Q1 2025).
• Updated ACER Guidance (version 7 is expected to be published by end of Q4 2024).