On 26 February 2025, the European Commission (Commission) issued a targeted consultation on the review of the functioning of commodity derivatives markets and certain aspects relating to spot energy markets.

The consultation seeks feedback on a broad range of issues including:

  • Data aspects relating to commodity derivatives.
  • The ancillary activity exemption.
  • Position management and position reporting.
  • Position limits.
  • Circuit breakers.
  • Other elements stemming from the Draghi report on EU competitiveness.

The consultation is launched in conjunction with the Action Plan on Affordable Energy adopted by the Commission on 26 February 2025.

Next steps

The deadline for comments on the consultation paper is 9 April 2025.

The Commission states that outcome of the consultation serves several objectives:

  • It will feed into the MiFID report exercise, with a view to making the EU commodity derivatives markets more efficient and resilient.
  • It will allow the Commission to collect evidence to feed into broader reflections on the wholesale energy and related financial markets that may inform future policy choices in this area where appropriate, this may call for legislative amendments of the relevant legislation, including MiFID and REMIT.
  • The solutions under consideration may in some cases be specifically targeted at certain types of contracts or commodities. It could, for example, be possible to identify specific solutions as regards gas‑related contracts (as opposed to other commodities)