05/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has appointed two new hearing officers in competition policy area. They are Karen Williams and Serge Durande. The hearing officers have the role of safeguarding the rights of companies to be heard and defend themselves in merger reviews and in anti-trust proceedings. The appointments come after the Commission's decision in May to strengthen the role and the autonomy of hearing officers. According to the same decision, the hearing officers...