On 6 March 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the EU Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which strengthens collaboration between the two institutions.

The MoU notably incorporates new cooperation areas under the market correction mechanism (MCM) regulation and benchmarks related to the energy sector. It also details the role of the recently established ACER-ESMA Task Force.

The main areas covered by the MoU are as follows:

  • coordinated and consistent approach to the market abuse framework under the Regulation on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency and the Market Abuse Regulation to further enhance market integrity in energy and energy derivatives markets;
  • technical cooperation on data and knowledge with respect to the functioning of energy and energy derivative markets; and
  • LNG price assessments and benchmarks administered by ACER and other energy-related benchmarks relevant for ESMA’s or ACER’s mandates.