On 14 September 2022, President Von der Leyen announced in her State of the Union Address, the first package of emergency energy measures aimed at providing an EU-wide response to the difficulties that high energy prices are causing for consumers, as well as for energy firms participating in wholesale energy markets.

The President also mentioned the ongoing work streams regarding financial markets, as the Commission may adopt further measures in the coming days and weeks with market regulators. In particular the address touches on circuit breakers which are safeguard mechanisms that allow energy exchanges to interrupt trading in case of significant price movements. The Commission has asked the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a letter dated 13 September 2022 to investigate why circuit breakers have not been triggered in the course of the current energy crisis, and to explore whether the rules on circuit breakers need to be aligned across the EU. In addition, in the same letter the Commission has asked ESMA to consider a more harmonised approach to ‘limit pricing’.