The study should provide a comprehensive analysis of the feasibility and conditions for the creation of a central source of consolidated EU trading data for various financial instruments. It should establish advantages and disadvantages of various possible EU consolidated tape models.

Specifically, the objectives of the contract are to:

1) Provide an in-depth analysis of potential users' needs for an EU consolidated tape.

2) Provide an in-depth assessment of the design of an EU consolidated tape.

The study should assess the need to introduce consolidated tape for various financial instruments from the perspective of different users. It should examine the need for either a pre-and post trade or a post trade consolidated tape. The study should assess how the different types of market participants would make use of the consolidated tape (e.g. best execution, trade cost analysis).

The study should also analyse the existing consolidated tape frameworks. In this regard, it should provide not only a general description of the US and Canadian consolidated tape frameworks, but also an in-depth analysis of the functioning of those frameworks. The study should present possible scenarios for the architecture of a successful consolidated tape framework in the EU. The study should assess in those scenarios the merits of promoting competition between several consolidated tape providers, having regard to the efficiency and costs implications.