13/03/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission appointed Dorothe Dalheimer as Hearing Officer in competition cases on Friday 13 March. From Monday 16 March 2020, she will join Wouter Wils, who was appointed in 2010. The Hearing Officers act as independent arbitrators when a dispute arises about the effective exercise of procedural rights in merger and antitrust proceedings. Having certain decision-making powers, they are responsible for the organization and conduct of oral hearings in these cases. Hearing Officers must act independently in the exercise of their functions. To this end, they are not part of the Commission's Directorate-General for Competition, but report directly to Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice-President responsible for this policy. Ms Dalheimer, a German national, currently works at the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). (LC)