ACER to decide on the definition of capacity calculation regions
ACER to decide on the definition of capacity calculation regions
What is it about?
The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) have received a proposal from all Transmission System Operators (TSOs) for the definition of capacity calculation regions. This proposal envisages all European Union's bidding zone borders to be grouped into different capacity calculation regions, taking into consideration the interdependencies between their cross-zonal capacities. Different regional methodologies (such as capacity calculation, re-dispatching and countertrading) will be applied on the various capacity calculation regions.
An effective coordination between bidding zone borders allows an optimal use of transmission infrastructure across Europe, resulting in positive welfare gains for consumers. These benefits are often determined on the level of capacity calculation regions and the applications of their respective regional methodologies, which is why an efficient determination of the capacity calculation regions is of significant importance to the internal electricity market.
ACER must reach a Decision by 9th May 2021.
Data Protection
Data Protection
Data processing
ACER is highly committed in processing personal data in a lawful way.
The Agency processes personal data collected according to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.
ACER only processes personal data for the performance of tasks carried out in the public interest in accordance with European Union law or whilst legitimately exercising the official authority vested to the Agency. Furthermore, the processing of personal data is lawful as a part of a legal or contractual obligation or when the data subject concerned has given his or her unambiguous consent.
The Agency will not process personal data for marketing or commercial purposes.
The Agency's supervisory authority, in terms of processing personal data, is the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). The EDPS is responsible for the monitoring of European Union institutions, agencies and bodies and their compliance with data protection rules, ensuring that the rights to privacy and data protection are respected.
Data Protection Officer
The Agency appointed a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure, in an independent manner, the internal application of data protection requirements.
The DPO's main functions are to:
- Inform data controllers and individuals regarding their obligations and rights pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725,
- Cooperate and consult with the EDPS,
- Ensure the transparency of Agency's processing operations. The DPO keeps a register of all personal data processing operations performed at the Agency,
- Advise on lawful processing of personal data, ensuring that data controllers respect the rights to privacy and data protection in the course of their work,
- Provide recommendations, develop guidelines to enhance good practice, organise training and awareness session for Agency' staff,
- Support the data subjects on the exercise of their rights,
- Provide advice with regards to data protection related breaches,
- Ensure in an independent manner the internal application of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.
Data Protection
Register
ACER has the legal obligation to keep a register of all personal data processing operations which have been notified to the Data Protection Officer (DPO). The register aims at ensuring transparency to the public and it is accessible to any interested person. The register contains the following information:
- The Agency's department processing personal data,
- Name of the processing operation,
- Purpose of the processing operation.
Data Protection
Privacy notices
ACER processes any individual's personal data in compliance with the Regulation (EC) No 2018/1725.
The data privacy notices (DPN) describe the Agency's policies and practices regarding collection and use of personal data on different operations:
- Staff Administration: covering any processing activities ACER may carry out on data related to staff members, trainees, SNEs and interim staff.
- Interactions with Stakeholders: covering any contact persons within NRAs, energy market participants, organised marketplaces and other stakeholders the Agency may engage within the context of meetings, questionnaires, requests for feedback, roundtables, working groups, etc.
- ARIS and CMT: covering any processing activities undergone on the REMIT Portal, including applications and platforms made available on the REMIT Portal.
- Financial Management: covering any processing related to data of anyone entering into financial relationships / transactions with ACER, including other activities connected with the financial and budgetary management.
- ACER Website: acting as ACER Website Privacy Policy.
- ACER In-Person Events: covering any processing activities related to the organisation of ACER in-person events.
- ACER External Webinars and Online Events: covering any processing activities related to ACER online meetings and events.
- Meetings with ACER Director: covering the disclosure of information on individuals (self-employed or representing organisations) meeting with the Director.
- Recruitment and Selection: covering the data processing on applicants and candidates to traineeship programmes, staff positions or assignments.
- Procurement and Contract Management: covering the data processing on tenderers and contractors concerning procurement procedures.
- ACER Offices: covering any processing operations on persons physically present at the Agency's premises (access control, CCTV and Wi-Fi).
- Electricity and Gas Information System (AEGIS): covering any processing activities undergone on the AEGIS Portal, including applications and platforms made available therein.
- Board of Appeal: covering any processing activities carried out in the context of proceedings before the Agency's Board of Appeal.
- RVT Requirements: covering processing of personal information in connection with the checks of adequate proof of COVID-19 recovery, vaccination or testing carried out when accessing ACER premises.
- EU-Sign services: covering how and why EU Sign processes, collects, handles and ensures protection of personal data provided and what rights can be exercised.
- Managed File Transfer: covering any processing activities related to ACER’s secure file exchange service, including user data, transfer metadata, technical/security logs and file content shared through the service.
↓ See also
About REMIT
About REMIT
What is REMIT?
ACER and national regulatory authorities (NRAs) work closely together to protect energy markets from abuse.
Increased transparency and monitoring build confidence that energy markets work well for EU businesses and citizens and that prices are determined in a fair way.
The Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) is the EU framework that protects wholesale energy markets from abuse, ensuring open and fair competition.
REMIT prohibits two main forms of market abuse:
- insider trading (using undisclosed information to gain unfair advantage); and
- market manipulation (distorting market integrity or creating false or misleading market signals).
The Regulation sets rules to detect and prevent market abuse and establishes a system to monitor trading activities across the EU.
Since its adoption in 2011, EU legislators have updated REMIT to make it fit for purpose in a rapidly evolving energy landscape, where trading has become increasingly complex (e.g. through the use of algorithms). The Regulation was revised in 2024 to make wholesale energy markets more transparent and better monitored to deter abuse. This included:
- Broadening the Regulation’s scope (now covering energy storage, hydrogen, electricity balancing and financial instruments).
- Better aligning EU rules on transparency and integrity of energy markets with the Union’s financial market rules.
- Granting ACER investigatory powers in cross-border cases (involving two or more Member States). This mandate complements national regulators’ investigatory authority, with ACER and NRAs working closely together. See ACER’s Rules of Procedure on how such cross-border investigations are conducted. REMIT enforcement continues to be at national level.
About REMIT
Objectives and scope
REMIT’s main purpose is to ensure trust among consumers, investors and market players in the EU energy market.
How?
- Prohibiting abusive practices: REMIT bans insider trading (i.e. using confidential information to trade) and market manipulation (artificially manipulating prices).
- Ensuring transparency: Companies are required to publish 'inside information' (such as planned power outages for maintenance or capacity changes), so that all players have access to the same data at the same time. This helps energy market transparency and integrity.
- Mandating data reporting: Market participants must report trading data, allowing national regulators and ACER to actively monitor and detect suspicious or fraudulent activities.
About REMIT
How to ensure energy market trust, transparency and integrity?
ACER and national regulatory authorities (NRAs) work closely together to protect energy markets from abuse.
Many other parties cooperate and contribute to the transparency and integrity of wholesale energy markets under REMIT. These include market participants (e.g. traders, suppliers, producers), ‘organised market places’ (e.g. exchanges, brokers) and persons professionally arranging transactions (e.g. exchanges).
Anyone (including citizens) can notify a potential REMIT breach or suspicious behaviour through ACER’s REMIT Notification Platform.
What do energy ‘market participants’ and ‘organised market places’ need to do?
1. Registration:
- Market participants: All entities wishing to participate in wholesale energy markets (e.g. energy traders, transmission system operators (TSOs)) must register with their national energy regulator.
Organised market places (OMPs) must notify ACER to be included on a dedicated list (see the list of OMPs).
Third-country participants (outside the EU, e.g. UK or USA) active on EU energy markets must designate an EU representative.
2. Reporting and disclosure: Once registered, market participants must:
- report wholesale energy transactions through authorised ‘registered reporting mechanisms' (RRMs); and
- publish ‘inside information’ promptly through authorised ‘inside information platforms' (IIPs).
3. ACER authorises and supervises inside information platforms and registered reporting mechanisms, ensuring that transaction data and inside information are submitted accurately and consistently across the EU.
- Inside information platforms (IIPs) are internet-based platforms where market participants can publish inside information. With the revised REMIT, it becomes mandatory to use IIPs for the disclosure of inside information.
- Registered reporting mechanisms (RRMs) are entities that have the authority to submit data and transaction information to ACER. There are over 100 RRMs (see the list of approved RRMs). Authorisation is only available to RRMs that were founded within the European Union.
4. Regulatory oversight and enforcement:
- ACER collects and analyses EU-wide energy market data to identify potential REMIT breaches.
- REMIT enforcement is at national level. NRAs monitor and investigate potential breaches in their jurisdictions and apply sanctions where needed.
- ACER cooperates closely with national regulators and investigates cross-border cases.
About REMIT
What’s the role of ACER?
ACER’s main activities under REMIT include:
- Collecting and analysing market data.
- Monitoring wholesale energy markets to detect and deter market manipulation and abuse.
- Notifying manipulative behaviours to national regulators.
- Investigating cross-border market abuse cases.
- Supporting energy market transparency through tools like the REMIT Data Reference Centre, Inside Information Access Point and LNG price assessments.
- Promoting fair price formation, ensuring that wholesale electricity and gas prices are fair and competitive and reflect genuine supply-demand dynamics.
- Providing guidance and clarifications to help market participants and other relevant parties comply consistently with their REMIT obligations, including:
- Open letters, e.g. on reporting obligations after the 2024 revision of REMIT, on new obligations after the 2026 adoption of REMIT secondary legislation (respectively on the recast Implementing Regulation and new Delegated Regulation).
- REMIT Guidance and other resources (including Q&As).
About Electricity
About Electricity
A profound energy transition
The European energy sector is engaged into a profound energy transition, whose overall success highly depends on the efficiency and integration of the European electricity markets.
Since the Directive on common rules for the internal market in electricity (1996), which marked the beginning of the market integration process at the European level, significant progress has been made towards establishing an efficient Internal Electricity Market. The successive legislative packages (and more recently the Clean Energy Package) contributed to further strengthening the foundations of the Internal Electricity Market.
About Electricity
What's the role of ACER?
Despite this progress, there are still numerous obstacles to overcome before achieving a truly integrated efficient market.
Among these: the full implementation of the Network Codes and Guidelines developed since 2011 (constituting the backbone of the Internal Electricity Market) and the efficient and secure integration of renewables' intermittent generation.
Building upon the sustained efforts of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and the continuous support of all stakeholders, ACER's Electricity Department is committed to meeting all these challenges.
About Electricity
ACER Teams
To better support the market integration process, the Department has organised its activities into five teams:
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The Market Codes team is responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring the European market rules.
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The Grid Connection and System Operations team develops, implements and monitors the grid connection and system operation rules harmonised at European level.
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The Market Monitoring team is in charge of identifying the barriers to the well-functioning of the European electricity markets.
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The Infrastructure team ensures an efficient and transparent network development.
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The Adequacy team is responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of sound and transparent methodologies identifying resource gaps in Europe.
Vacancies
Vacancies
Call for Expression of Interest for Seconded National Experts (SNE)
Please note that the SNE Call ACER/SNE/OC/2023 was closed on 26/03/2026. Should you wish to be considered for the SNE position, we kindly invite you to submit a new application via this call.
Please be advised that applications submitted under the previous call can no longer be considered following its closure.
The Agency may offer positions to experienced and highly-motivated Seconded National Experts (SNE), who will work together with the Agency’s staff.
No deadline for applications
Reference: ACER/SNE/2025/OC
Vacancies
Open Call for Trainees
Are you a strongly motivated, highly qualified and competent young professional? If your answer is yes, you landed in the right place.
ACER traineeship programme aims to attract university graduates who are interested in developing professionally by embarking on an exciting learning opportunity.
No deadline to apply.
You can be contacted at any time to join us for March or September semester.
Reference: ACER/TRAINEE/2024/OC
Vacancies
Open Call for Graduates
The ACER graduate programme aims to attract graduates with a completed Master Degree and PhD students who are interested in developing professionally by embarking on an exciting learning opportunity in EU energy regulation in its offices in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The aim is to create a pool of fresh talent capable of contributing to core ACER tasks and policy and creating a bridge with the latest academic insights.
No deadline to apply.
Reference: ACER/GRADUATE/2023/OC
About ACER
About ACER
The Agency
The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) was established in March 2011 (Third Energy Package legislation) to foster cooperation among the EU’s energy National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and help ensure that a single European market for electricity, and similarly natural gas, functions well. ACER's headquarters are in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
ACER is one of the EU decentralised agencies. Distinct from the EU institutions, agencies are set up as separate legal entities to perform specific technical and scientific tasks that help the EU institutions and Member States to implement policies and take decisions. EU agencies support the cooperation between the EU and national governments by pooling technical and specialist expertise. Besides working with a wide range of energy stakeholders, the EU institutions and policy makers, ACER works closely with other European agencies through the EU Agencies Network (EUAN). See the EUAN work programme 2023-2024.
ACER’s role includes:
- Supporting the integration of energy markets in the EU (by common rules at EU level).
- Contributing to efficient trans-European energy infrastructure, ensuring alignment with EU priorities.
- Monitoring energy markets so that they function well, deterring wholesale energy market manipulation and abusive behaviour.
- Where necessary, coordinating cross-national regulatory action.
About ACER
What does the Agency do for you?
Our overall purpose is achieving a transition of the European energy system in line with the political objectives set, reaping benefits of increased energy market integration across Europe, and securing low-carbon supply at least possible cost for European businesses and citizens.
The Agency promotes:
- a more competitive, integrated market, offering consumers more choice
- an efficient energy infrastructure and networks, enabling energy to move freely across borders, the integration of renewable sources, and therefore ensuring a higher degree of security of supply
- a monitored and transparent energy market guaranteeing consumers fair prices and a limitation of market abusive behaviours