ESMA letter to EC on de-prioritisation of deliverables under 2026 annual work programme

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a letter addressed to the European Commission (EC) de-prioritising certain 2026 deliverables under its annual work programme. Due to the increased workload arising from the market integration and supervision package (MISP) proposal and the broader political focus towards simplification and burden reduction, ESMA confirms that a small number of planned policy deliverables (set out in Table A of Annex I in the work programme) may become obsolete or altered depending on the final outcome of the legislative negotiations of the MISP package. To avoid duplication or inconsistency, ESMA has also decided to postpone related consultations until after the package is adopted. For more information on MISP and its potential implications for market participants, you may wish to watch our webinar.

ESMA will now reallocate resources to higher priority workstreams. These include: preparing for the supervision and authorisation of consolidated tape providers and environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating providers; continued work on simplification and burden reduction, particularly in data reporting; T+1 settlement preparation; targeted convergence actions to support effective implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and the revised European Market Infrastructure Regulation; assessing the impact of tokenisation and monitoring risks arising from geopolitical instability; delivery of the European Single Access Point; and initial work on new mandates such as the Retail Investment Strategy.

ESMA also calls on the EC to consider repealing or making optional certain recurring reporting mandates, to allow ESMA greater flexibility in aligning outputs with evolving current policy priorities and market developments.

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