17.8.2023
(28)
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 204/7
Attention is drawn to the fact that the exercise of procedural rights set out in the basic Regulation depends on parties making themselves known within the time limits laid down in Article 3 of this Regulation.
H.
NON-COOPERATION
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If any interested party refuses access to or does not provide the necessary information within the time limits, or significantly impedes the investigation, findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of facts available in accordance with Article 28 of the basic Regulation.
(30)
Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information, the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of facts available in accordance with Article 28 of the basic Regulation.
(31)
If an interested party does not cooperate or cooperates only partially and findings are therefore based on the facts available in accordance with Article 28 of the basic Regulation, the result may be less favourable to that party than if it had cooperated.
I. SCHEDULE OF THE INVESTIGATION
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The investigation will be concluded, pursuant to Article 23(4) of the basic Regulation, within nine months of the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
J.
PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA
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It is noted that any personal data collected in this investigation will be treated in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4).
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A data protection notice that informs all individuals of the processing of personal data in the framework of Commission’s trade defence activities is available on DG Trade’s website: https://europa.eu/!vr4g9W.
K. HEARING OFFICER
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Interested parties may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer for trade proceedings.
The Hearing Officer reviews requests for access to the file, disputes regarding the confidentiality of documents, requests for extension of time limits and any other request concerning the rights of defence of interested parties and third parties as may arise during the proceeding.
(36)
The Hearing Officer may organise hearings and mediate between the interested party/-ies and Commission services to ensure that the interested parties’ rights of defence are being fully exercised.
A request for a hearing with the Hearing Officer should be made in writing and should specify the reasons for the request.
The Hearing Officer will examine the reasons for the requests.
These hearings should only take place if the issues have not been settled with the Commission services in the due course.
(37)
Any request must be submitted in good time and expeditiously so as not to jeopardise the orderly conduct of proceedings.
To that effect, interested parties should request the intervention of the Hearing Officer at the earliest possible time following the occurrence of the event justifying such intervention.
Where hearing requests are submitted outside the relevant timeframes, the Hearing Officer will also 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.
(38)
For further information and contact details interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer’s web pages on DG TRADE’s website: https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/contacts/hearing-officer_en,
(4) Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).