Article 9 Preparation of hearings

After hearing the Director responsible or their delegate, the hearing officer shall determine the date, the duration and the place of the hearing. Where a postponement is requested by the interested parties or the Commission services, the hearing officer shall decide whether or not to allow it.

Where appropriate, the hearing officer may hold a preparatory meeting with the interested parties or with the Commission services responsible for the investigation and other services in order to identify and clarify, as far as possible, any questions of fact or law to be addressed during the hearing. The hearing officer may request any information necessary for the preparation of the hearing from the participants.

The hearing officer shall prepare the agenda of each hearing. The agenda shall be made available to all participants prior to the hearing.

The hearing officer may, within a reasonable time after the deadline for the submission of comments on a disclosure and before a hearing among parties, invite the participants to submit questions on the information provided by other interested parties.

The hearing officer may, after hearing the Director responsible or their delegate, supply in advance to the parties invited to a hearing a list of the questions on which they are invited to comment.

The hearing officer may ask for prior written notification of the essential contents of the intended statement of the participants in any hearing.

The hearing officer shall invite the staff of the member of the Commission responsible for trade policy and the Legal Service to hearings organised by the hearing officer. The hearing officer may invite other Commission services to attend such hearings.

The hearing officer may invite external experts to attend such hearings. Interested parties and the Commission services may request the hearing officer to admit external experts to hearings. The hearing officer shall decide on such requests. External experts invited to a hearing shall be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

External experts may be asked to provide any relevant analysis, reports or publications. They shall be included in the file open for consultation by interested parties and made available to all participants whenever possible prior to the hearing.