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1. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/1719, transmission system operators shall issue long-term transmission rights or have equivalent measures in place to allow market participants, including owners of power-generating facilities using renewable energy, to hedge price risks, unless an assessment of the forward market on the bidding zone borders performed by the competent regulatory authorities shows that there are sufficient hedging opportunities in the bidding zones concerned.

2. Long-term transmission rights shall be allocated, on a regular basis, in a transparent, market based and non-discriminatory manner through a single allocation platform. The frequency of allocation and the maturities of the long-term cross-zonal capacity shall support the efficient functioning of the Union’s forward markets.

3. The design of the Union’s forward markets shall comprise the necessary tools to improve the ability of market participants to hedge price risks in the internal electricity market.

4. By 17 January 2026, the Commission shall, after consulting relevant stakeholders, carry out an assessment of the impact of possible measures to achieve the objective referred to in paragraph 3. That impact assessment shall, inter alia, cover:

(a) possible changes to the frequency of allocation for long-term transmission rights;

(b) possible changes to the maturities of long-term transmission rights, in particular maturities extended up to at least three years;

(c) possible changes to the nature of long-term transmission rights;

(d) ways to strengthen the secondary market; and (e) the possible introduction of regional virtual hubs for the forward markets.

5. As regards regional virtual hubs for the forward markets, the impact assessment carried out pursuant to paragraph 4 shall cover the following:

(a) the adequate geographical scope of the regional virtual hubs, including the bidding zones that would constitute those hubs and specific situations of bidding zones belonging to two or more virtual hubs, aiming to maximise the price correlation between the reference prices and the prices of the bidding zones constituting regional virtual hubs;

(b) the level of electricity interconnectivity of Member States, in particular of those Member States below the electricity interconnection targets for 2020 and 2030 laid down in Article 4, point (d)(1), of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council ();

(c) the methodology for the calculation of the reference prices for the regional virtual hubs for the forward markets, aiming to maximise the price correlation between the reference price and the prices of the bidding zones constituting a regional virtual hub;

(d) the possibility for bidding zones to form part of more than one regional virtual hub;

(e) the ways to maximise trading opportunities for hedging products referencing the regional virtual hubs for the forward markets as well as for long term transmission rights from bidding zones to regional virtual hubs;

(f) the ways to ensure that the single allocation platform referred to in paragraph 2 offers allocation and facilitates the trading of long-term transmission rights;

(g) the implications of pre-existing intergovernmental agreements and rights thereunder.

6. On the basis of the outcome of the impact assessment referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, the Commission shall, by 17 July 2026, adopt an implementing act to further specify measures and tools to achieve the objectives referred to in in paragraph 3 of this Article and the precise features of those measures and tools. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to Article 67(2).

7. The single allocation platform established in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/1719 shall act as an entity offering allocation and facilitating the trading of long-term transmission rights on behalf of transmission system operators. It shall have a legal form as referred to in Annex II to Directive (EU) 2017/1132 of the European Parliament and of the Council ().

8. Where a competent regulatory authority considers that there are insufficient hedging opportunities available for market participants, it may, after consulting the competent authorities designated pursuant to Article 67 of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council () where the forward markets concern financial instruments as defined in Article 4(1), point (15), of that Directive, require power exchanges or transmission system operators to implement additional measures, such as market-making activities, to improve the liquidity of the forward markets.

9. Subject to compliance with Union competition law and with Regulations (EU) No 648/2012 () and (EU) No 600/2014 () of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive 2014/65/EU, market operators may develop forward hedging products, including long-term forward hedging products, to provide market participants, including owners of power-generating facilities using renewable energy sources, with appropriate possibilities for hedging financial risks against price fluctuations. Member States shall not require that such hedging activity may be limited to trades within a Member State or bidding zone.