406Next, it must be noted that Article 10(3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 773/2004 of 7 April 2004 relating to the conduct of proceedings by the Commission pursuant to Articles [101] and [102 TFEU] (OJ 2004 L 123, p. 18) provides that undertakings and associations of undertakings forming the subject of a proceeding pursuant to Regulation No 1/2003 ‘may propose that the Commission hear persons who may corroborate the facts set out in their submission’. In such a case, it appears from Article 13 of Regulation No 773/2004 that the Commission has a reasonable margin of discretion to decide how expedient it may be to hear persons whose evidence may be relevant to the inquiry. The guarantee of the rights of the defence does not require the Commission to hear witnesses put forward by the parties concerned, where it considers that the investigation of the case has been sufficient (see, by analogy, in relation to Regulation No 17, Case T-9/99 HFB and Others v Commission [2002] ECR II-1487, paragraph 383 and the case-law cited).
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