PC_2015_R_03 - Public Consultation on the Common Schema for the Disclosure of Inside Information

Status
Closed
Open:
27.05.2015
Close:
30.06.2015
Policy area
Contact information
Audience

Overview

​​​​The public consultation process


From 27 May 2015 to 26 June 2015 30 June 2015 the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (‘ACER’) is running a public consultation on a common schema for the disclosure of inside information by market participants under the obligation of Article 4 of REMIT.

For that purpose the Agency is publishing a consultation paper providing recommendations on a common minimum standard necessary to ensure fair, effective and transparent communication of information that is likely to significantly affect wholesale energy prices (the ‘Consultation Paper’).

The public consultation is intended to collect the views on the proposed common schema from all parties interested in the implementation of REMIT (market participants, platforms for the disclosure of inside information, new service providers, etc.).

The Agency invites all interested parties to provide comments on the consultation paper, and particularly to reply to the consultation questions listed in the Consultation Paper, to the following e-mail: Remit.PublicConsultations(at)acer.europa.eu by 26 June 2015 30 June 2015, CoB.

 Comments are most helpful if they:

  • respond to the question stated;

  • indicate the specific question to which the comment relates;

  • contain a clear rationale; and

  • describe any alternatives ACER should consider.

The Agency will make public the number of responses received to this public consultation, the names of the respondents (except those with a valid reason for not having their identity disclosed), and all non-confidential responses. Please clearly and prominently indicate in your response to this public consultation any part you consider as confidential and do not wish to be publically disclosed. A standard confidentiality statement in an email message will not be treated as a confidentiality statement applicable for the relevant response.

Consultation documents

The Consultation Paper can be downloaded here:

Common Schema for the Disclosure of Inside Information - Public Consultation Paper

The purpose of this Consultation Paper is to outline a proposal for the enhancement of the disclosure of inside information by market participants (either directly or indirectly through service providers acting on their behalf).

The Agency analysed the current practices for the disclosure of inside information and identified necessary improvements in terms of information content and in the way information is presented. On one hand, REMIT Implementing Regulation defines new details on the publication of inside information and thus the 3rd edition of the ACER Guidance on the application of REMIT (ACER Guidance) needs to be amended accordingly. On the other hand, the actual implementation of the high level requirements included in the ACER Guidance resulted in divergent working practices, such as different nomenclature or units of measurement used. Hence, the Agency intends to provide further details to the requirements outlined in the above mentioned documents in the form of a Manual that establishes procedures, standards and electronic formats and a Guidance Note that will result in a revision of the ACER Guidance.

The aim of ensuring further consistence in the way inside information is published is twofold:

  • first of all, a commonly used and understood format for the disclosure of inside information would raise the level of transparency of wholesale energy markets;

  • secondly, using a common format allows stakeholders to collect urgent market messages in an efficient manner.  

To further increase the transparency of wholesale energy markets, to ensure compliance with the Implementing Regulation and to facilitate the collection of inside information, the Agency would like to reinforce the need for a common understanding of the effective disclosure of inside information. The Consultation Paper outlines: 

  • a proposal for a common schema - set of fields, definitions and list of accepted values – for the disclosure of inside information,

  • a recommendation for the implementation of web-feeds under Article 10(1) of the Implementing Regulation.