Article 6 Hearings

The hearing officer may, upon request or as set out in the basic Regulations, organise and conduct hearings between an individual interested party or a group of interested parties with similar interests and the Commission services responsible for the investigation. The hearing officer may also organise and conduct hearings among interested parties with different interests.

Upon receipt of a request for a hearing, the hearing officer shall assess the issues raised and decide whether a hearing is appropriate. A hearing may cover any issue which arises at any moment of a trade proceeding and could affect the rights of the interested parties.

Hearings shall, in principle, only take place if the issues cannot be settled with the Commission services.

Where hearing requests are submitted outside the relevant timeframes set for the proceeding, the hearing officer shall examine the reasons for such late requests, the nature of the issues raised and the impact of those issues on the rights of defence, having due regard to the interests of good administration and the timely completion of the investigation.

The purpose of the hearing shall be to ensure that the rights of defence of parties are respected by the Commission services. The hearing officer shall, in principle, not accept or consider any evidence that has not been submitted to the Commission services in the course of proceedings.

Natural or legal persons invited to attend a hearing with the hearing officer shall either appear in person or be represented by a duly authorised agent appointed from among their staff or a legal representative. They may be assisted by a legal adviser or another qualified person from outside their staff if admitted by the hearing officer.

This Article is without prejudice to the right to a hearing with the Commission services responsible for investigation under the basic Regulations.