Article 49

1. The parties shall be summoned to oral proceedings provided for in Article 96 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 and their attention shall be drawn to paragraph 3 of this Article.

2. When issuing the summons, the Office shall request, where necessary, that the parties provide all relevant information and documents before the hearing. The Office may invite the parties to concentrate on one or more specified issues during the oral proceedings. It may also offer to the parties the possibility to take part in the oral proceedings by videoconference or other technical means.

3. If a party who has been duly summoned to oral proceedings before the Office does not appear as summoned, the proceedings may continue without that party.

4. The Office shall ensure that the case is ready for decision at the conclusion of the oral proceedings, unless there are special reasons to the contrary.