19.4.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 107/5 DECISIONS DECISION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION of 29 February 2012 on the function and terms of reference of the hearing officer in certain trade proceedings (2012/199/EV) THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission (), and in particular Article 22 thereof, Whereas: 1 The right to good administration constitutes an estab- lished principle of European Union law, which includes the procedural rights of interested parties involved in administrative proceedings, the result of which may affect their interests. This principle of European Union law is set out in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (?). The rights set out in Article 41(1) and (2) of the Charter of a person whose interests are affected by a trade proceeding are also either explicitly set out or should, since they are general principles of law, be applied in Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 of 30 November 2009 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (}), Council Regulation (EC) No 597/2009 of 11 June 2009 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Community (¥), Council Regulation (EC) No 260/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the common rules for imports (°), Council Regulation (EC) No 625/2009 of 7 July 2009 on common rules for imports from certain third countries (°), Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 of 22 December 1994 laying down Community procedures in the field of the common commercial policy in order to ensure the exercise of the Community’s rights under international trade rules, in particular those established under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (7), Council Regulation (EC) No 385/96 of 29 January 1996 on protection against 55, 5.3.2010, p. 60. 83, 30.3.2010, p. 391. 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51. 188, 18.7.2009, p. 93. 84, 31.3.2009, p. 1. 185, 17.7.2009, p. 1. 349, 31.12.1994, p. 71. |l il ol ol el e W anl injurious pricing of vessels (), Regulation (EC) No 868/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 concerning protection against subsidisation and unfair pricing practices causing injury to Community air carriers in the supply of air services from countries not members of the European Community (°), Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 of 22 July 2008 applying a scheme of gener- alised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 and amending Regulations (EC) No 552/97, (EC) No 1933/2006 and Commission Regulations (EC) No 1100/2006 and (EC) No 964/2007 (19, Council Regulation (EC) No 1515/2001 of 23 July 2001 on the measures that may be taken by the Community following a report adopted by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body concerning anti- dumping and anti-subsidy matters (!') and in Council Regulation (EC) No 427/2003 of 3 March 2003 on a transitional product-specific safeguard mechanism for imports originating in the People’s Republic of China and amending Regulation (EC) No 519/94 on common rules for imports from certain third countries (12). Since 1 January 2007, the task to safeguard the effective exercise of the procedural rights of the interested parties and ensure that trade proceedings provided in the regu- lations listed above are handled impartially, fairly and within a reasonable time has been entrusted to an official of the Directorate-General for Trade experienced in trade defence issues, entitled ‘Hearing Officer'. In order to strengthen this role and reinforce the trans- parency and the procedural fairness of the relevant proceedings, it is now appropriate to strengthen this function of hearing officer inside the Commission and to lay down his attributions. This function should be attributed to an independent person experienced in trade proceedings. The hearing officer should be appointed by the Commission in accordance with the rules laid down in the Staff Regu- lations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union. 56, 6.3.1996, p. 21. 162, 30.4.2004, p. 1. 201, 26.7.2001, p. 10. 65, 8.3.2003, p. 1. ) O] L ) O] L 9 O] L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1. ) O] L ) O] L