2025-10-16
ESMA issues a Final Report proposing to replace Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1437 with new RTS aligned with the European Single Access Point (ESAP) legislation. The updated standards repeal the obsolete EEAP rules and cross-reference existing ESAP Implementing Technical Standards to ensure legal certainty and streamline compliance for Officially Appointed Mechanisms. Following a 2025 consultation where all respondents agreed with the amendments, the draft RTS is submitted to the European Commission for adoption.
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 1 Final Report on the replacement of the RTS on the EEAP
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 2 Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................3 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................4 3 Feedback Statement ...................................................................................................5 4 Annexes ......................................................................................................................7 4.1 Annex I - Draft RTS..............................................................................................7 4.2 Annex II - CBA ...................................................................................................11 4.3 Annex III - Advice from SMSG............................................................................11
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 3 1 Executive Summary Reasons for publication The publication of the ESAP Regulation and of the two Joint Committee ITS on ESAP make certain aspects of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1437 (the RTS on the EEAP) obsolete. It is therefore appropriate to replace the RTS on the EEAP with an RTS whose content is aligned with the ESAP legislation in order to bring more legal certainty to the relevant stakeholders. Contents The proposed RTS aligns the requirements which are currently in the RTS on the EEAP with the ITS on tasks of ESAP collection bodies and the ITS on ESAP functionalities, and therefore with the establishment of the ESAP project. It does so by cross-referring the relevant sections of the ESAP Regulation or of one of the two ITSs. The Final Report includes a Feedback Statement following the Consultation ran in early 2025 and a brief cost-benefit analysis. Next Steps The draft RTS is submitted to the European Commission, which has 3 months (renewable) to adopt it.
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 4 2 Introduction
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 5 (e) the common classification of regulated information by the mechanisms referred to in Article 21(2) and the common list of types of regulated information. 6. This mandate was originally fulfilled by ESMA with the drafting of the so-called RTS on the European Electronic Access Point (EEAP), which became the Commission Delegated Regulation on access to regulated information at Union level (Regulation 2016/1437). 7. In light of the publication of the ITS on tasks of ESAP collection bodies, several aspects of that regulation have become obsolete and redundant. 8. To address this, ESMA proposed in its Consultation Paper2 to amend the RTS on the EEAP to align its requirement with the ITS on tasks of ESAP collection bodies and the ITS on ESAP functionalities, and therefore with the establishment of the upcoming ESAP project. ESMA proposed to do so by cross-referring the relevant sections of that RTS to the ITS on tasks of collection bodies or to the ESAP Regulation3 . 9. The Consultation ran from 13 December 2024 to 31 March 2025. The Feedback Statement contained in this Final Report summarises the feedback received and sets out the way forward with regards to the RTS on the EEAP. 3 Feedback Statement Question 254 : Do you agree that it is necessary to amend the RTS on EEAP and with the way ESMA proposes to do so? If not, please explain your reasons. 10. 16 respondents provided input to this question. All respondents agreed that it is necessary to amend the RTS on the EEAP and with the way ESMA proposes to go about it. 11. Two respondents highlighted that further specifications or requirements on the transmission from the OAMs to ESMA should be avoided as doing otherwise would increase the administrative burden for undertakings and their auditors. They also asked that local bodies should be well included in the process, as there were issues in the past with problems concerning ESEF submissions, clarifying that this does not regard OAMs but other national bodies. 2 ESMA32-2009130576-3024 CP ESEF RTS - marking up rules for sustainability reports and financial notes and EEAP RTS 3 As all provisions of Regulation (EU) 2026/1437 would need to be changed to bring it into line, it is proposed to replace it with new RTS aligned with the ESAP legal acts. 4 Please note that this set of questions was part of a broader consultation, see Consultation on the ESEF RTS for sustainability reporting and on the amendments to the EEAP RTS
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 6 12. ESMA notes that it goes beyond the scope of this consultation to deal with submission of ESEF files to bodies which are not OAMs, but that issues arising from submissions of files to bodies which are not OAMs but are collection bodies under the meaning of ESAP will be handled as part of the implementation of the second phase of ESAP. Question 26: Do you agree with content of the proposed amendments to the RTS on EEAP? If not, please explain in which regards to you disagree and illustrate any alternative proposal 13. 17 respondents provided input to this question. All respondents agreed with the proposed amendments to the RTS on EEAP. Many respondents stressed in particular their support for maintaining the ISO 17442 LEI as the unique identifier to be used in ESAP. 14. One respondent argued that paragraph 4 of Article 3 is not entirely clear as issuers cannot modify a submission as such, rather they can submit a new document and indicate that it is a correction. The wording of paragraph 4 should be amended accordingly. ESMA agrees that the wording of paragraph 4 could be clearer given the specific circumstances surrounding the publication of corrections of regulated information and changes will be made to clarify the wording. 15. Another respondent encouraged higher availability of the connections from OAM's to the ESAP to 99.9%, in line with industry standards because availability of the data is crucial for the value of ESAP. ESMA notes that ESAP itself needs to be available 97% of the time and therefore each OAM should ensure that it meets the same standards as the ESAP central system. More availability would be of course welcome, but it would seem disproportionate to require it in law. Question 34: Do you agree with the assessment of costs and benefits developed by ESMA with respect to the review of the RTS on EEAP? 16. 12 respondents provided input to this question. All agreed with ESMA’s assessment of the costs and benefits with respect to the review of the RTS on the EEAP.
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 7 4 Annexes 4.1 Annex I - Draft RTS COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) xxxx/xx of xx xxxx xxx supplementing Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards on access to regulated information at Union level The European Commission, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and amending Directive 2001/34/EC, and in particular Article 22 thereof, Whereas: (1) Considering that Regulation (EU) 2023/2859 requires ESMA to establish and operate a European single access point (ESAP) providing central electronic access to a wide range of information, which includes regulated information submitted by the Officially Appointed Mechanism (OAM(s)) referred to in Article 21(1) and designated under Article 21(2) of Directive 2004/109/EC, (2) Considering also that the ESAP ‘Omnibus’ Directive (EU) 2023/2864 repealed Article 21a of the Directive 2004/109/EC, under which ESMA operated a web portal serving as a European electronic access point (EEAP) for the storage and publication of such regulated information based on the above mechanism. (3) Since the said Omnibus Directive also inserted Article 23a into Directive 2004/109/EC to specify that the collection body as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Regulation (EU) 2023/2859 is the OAM(s)) designated under Article 21(2) of the Directive 2004/109/EC (4) Following the above amendments, ESAP should now serve the function of giving access to regulated information stored by the OAMs at Union level.
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 8 (5) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1437, on access to regulated information under Directive 2004/109/EC should consequently also be overhauled to reflect the above amendments so that it is aligned with Regulation (EU) 2023/2859, the Omnibus Directive and Regulation and the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1339 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1338. (6) As all the provisions of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1437 need to be substantively changed, for reasons of legal certainty and to ensure ease of reference the said Commission Delegated Regulation should be repealed and replaced by updated regulatory technical standards which are aligned with the requirements concerning OAMs in the aforementioned ESAP legal acts. (7) This Regulation is based on the draft regulatory technical standards submitted by ESMA to the Commission. (8) ESMA has conducted open public consultations on the draft regulatory technical standards on which this Regulation is based, analysed the potential related costs and benefits and requested the advice of the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group established by Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION Article 1 Search for regulated information
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 9 2. To make information available on ESAP, OAMs shall use the secure internet protocol specified by Article 4 paragraph d of Commission Implementing Regulation 2025/1339. 3. The regulated information shall be made available to ESAP via file transfer. 4. Each OAM shall ensure at least 97% availability per month of its connection with ESAP. Article 3 Provision of information to ESAP by OAMs
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 10
16 October 2025 ESMA12-1406959660-2961 11 4.2 Annex II - CBA Cost-benefit analysis 17. As set out in the CP, and agreed by all respondents to the Consultation, the proposed amendments to the RTS on EEAP will not impose additional costs on OAMs or reporting entities. This is because all proposed requirements are already enshrined in other legislative texts such as the ESAP Regulation or the draft ITS on tasks of collection bodies and therefore, would not create incremental costs or burdens compared to that baseline. 18. In fact, to the contrary, establishing a consistent set of requirements would ensure that OAMs do not incur extra costs to comply with two inconsistent pieces of legislation while also clarifying and streamlining the EU legal framework. 4.3 Annex III - Advice from SMSG 19. The SMSG did not provide an advice on the proposed amendments to the RTS on the EEAP.