Article 18 Reports of the hearing officer

At the end of each year, the hearing officer shall prepare an annual report. The annual report shall contain information on the cases in which the hearing officer intervened, the type of decisions and recommendations made and any recommendation for improving the trade proceedings. The report shall be addressed to the member of the Commission responsible for trade policy. The Director-General and Director(s) concerned shall receive a copy of the report.

Summaries of the annual report shall be communicated to the European Parliament and the Member States and published on the website of the hearing officer.

In addition to the annual report provided for in paragraph 1 and where warranted, the hearing officer shall on an ad hoc basis, provide the member of the Commission responsible for trade policy with a summary of the hearing officer's activities and the issues which arose during those activities. That information shall outline the main policy issues, the decisions and the recommendations made by the hearing officer and how those recommendations were taken into account by the Commission services responsible for the investigation. The Director-General shall receive a copy of such information.

The hearing officer shall report on any hearing among interested parties with different interests and may report to the member of the Commission responsible for trade policy and the Director-General on any other issue arising out of a trade proceeding or otherwise relevant for the effective application of Union law in trade proceedings.

The final report of the hearing officer in hearings among parties with different interests shall be submitted to the member of the Commission responsible for trade policy, the Director-General and the Director concerned. It shall be communicated to the competent representatives of the Member States and the interested parties.