1. This Regulation applies to the provision of benchmarks, the contribution of input data to a benchmark and the use of a benchmark within the Union.

2. This Regulation shall not apply to:

(a) a central bank;

(b) a public authority, where it contributes data to, provides, or has control over the provision of, benchmarks for public policy purposes, including measures of employment, economic activity, and inflation;

(c) a central counterparty (CCP), where it provides reference prices or settlement prices used for CCP risk-management purposes and settlement;

(d) the provision of a single reference price for any financial instrument listed in Section C of Annex I to Directive 2014/65/EU;

(e) the press, other media and journalists where they merely publish or refer to a benchmark as part of their journalistic activities with no control over the provision of that benchmark;