Recital 1

(1)This Regulation contributes to the specification of the criteria for the determination of sufficient third-party buying and selling interest in a class of derivatives or a relevant subset of a class of derivatives. Where the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has established that a class of derivatives should be subject to the clearing obligation under Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council ² and that the derivatives are admitted to trading or traded on a trading venue, ESMA should follow the criteria in this Regulation to determine whether the derivatives or subset thereof are considered sufficiently liquid to trade exclusively on trading venues.