meta_id 3114141

On 30 April 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a call for evidence (CfE) on the structure of European equity markets. The CfE presents a data-driven analysis of trading evolution in European equity markets between 2022 and 2025, based on Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) transaction reporting data, and invites stakeholder feedback on observed trends and their potential regulatory implications. ESMA's analysis indicates that European equity markets continue to function well overall. The share of addressable liquidity has remained stable at approximately 85 percent of total trading volume, while on-book trading has accounted for around 75–80 percent of trading volume over the period. However, ESMA observes a decline in lit continuous trading between 2022 and 2025, which has been offset by increased activity in other trading mechanisms, including closing auctions, frequent batch auctions, and systematic internaliser (SI) trading. The paper also analyses liquidity allocation across different trading mechanisms on a country-by-country basis and seeks input on the concept of addressable liquidity and its treatment under Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) 1, including possible adjustments to the post-trade transparency flagging framework. Additionally, ESMA has repealed a Q&A clarifying that periodic auctions are subject to the tick-size regime. ESMA invites stakeholders' views on the functioning of European stock markets by 30 June 2026. ESMA will issue a feedback statement in the second half of 2026 on this call for evidence and will continue monitoring market developments, considering recent MiFIR changes, including the move to a single volume cap and enhanced SI transparency obligations, as well as different types of trading mechanisms such as closing auctions. Responses can be submitted via the reply form available on ESMA's website.