Glossary · DORA
ESAs (EBA, ESMA, EIOPA)
The three European Supervisory Authorities for banking, securities markets, and insurance, which jointly develop DORA's technical standards and oversee critical ICT providers.
Explained in depth: DORA overview
The European Supervisory Authorities are the EBA (European Banking Authority), ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority), and EIOPA (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority). Under DORA they act largely as a trio: they jointly drafted the regulatory and implementing technical standards that fill in DORA's details, they jointly designate critical ICT third-party providers, and they staff the oversight of those providers, with one ESA appointed Lead Overseer per CTPP. The ESAs do not supervise individual financial entities day to day; that remains with national competent authorities such as Finansinspektionen. Their role is to harmonise the rulebook and to run the EU-level oversight layer that DORA created.
Why it matters
When a DORA article says "in accordance with the technical standards", the ESAs wrote those standards. Their joint publications, templates (such as the register of information), and Q&As are the authoritative source for how DORA works in practice.