Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

- minutes and other reports of meetings between European Commission officials (from DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) and representatives of BUSINESSEUROPE, CEFIC, the European Industrial Mineral Association and other companies and industry ssociations, in which the revision of the carcinogens and mutagens directive (Directive 2004/37/EC), the chemical agents directive (Directive 98/24/EC) and other issues concerning workplace-related cancers were discussed (between November 2004 and today);

- all correspondence (including emails) between European Commission officials (from DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) and representatives of BUSINESSEUROPE, CEFIC, the European Industrial Mineral Association and other companies and industry associations, in which the revision of the carcinogens and mutagens directive, the chemical agents directive and other issues concerning workplace-related cancers were discussed (between November 2004 and today);

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Rue d'Edimbourg 26,
1050 Brussels, Belgium

http://www.corporateeurope.org
Tel. +32 (0)2 893 0930
Mobile: +32 474 486545

EU Transparency Register ID Number: 5353162366-85

Dear Charlotte Grevfors Emoult,

thank you for your reply.

Firstly, regarding your question for clarification, I don't object to excluding directive 2009/148/EC (asbestos at work) from the scope of my request.

Secondly, I am also willing to reduce the scope in time of my requests, from November 2004 to November 2009.

Thirdly, you argue that my request is imprecise because it does not include a full list of companies and industry associations. I cannot agree with you on this. It is impossible for me to know which companies have met the European Commission to discuss Directive 2004/37/EC), Directive 98/24/EC and other issues concerning workplace-related cancers. There is no list of meetings available from which I could select a range of companies and industry associations. I can add additional names (such as UEAPME, Eurochambres, Eurocommerce, DLA Piper, Eurosil, European Construction Industry Federation, Verbond Belgische Ondernemingen), but I do not feel it is appropriate nor in the spirit of transparency to restrict my request even further by limiting it to only those companies and organisations that I would guess may have meetings on these issues. My request, after all, focuses on just two specific directives, a limited number of Commission DGs and it now also has a reduced time scope.

Yours sincerely,

Olivier Hoedeman
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Dear Charlotte Grevfors Emoult,

thank you again for your reply. Following a phone conversation with one of your colleagues, I would like to amend my previous response.

Firstly, regarding your question for clarification, I don't object to excluding directive 2009/148/EC (asbestos at work) from the scope of my request. I would like to clarify that my request concerns correspondence and meetings on workplace-related cancers (including Directive 2004/37/EC and Directive 98/24/EC).

Secondly, I am also willing to reduce the scope in time of my requests, so it now covers the period from April 2011 and onwards.

Thirdly, you argue that my request is imprecise because it does not include a full list of companies and industry associations. I cannot agree with you on this. It is impossible for me to know which companies have met the European Commission to discuss the above-mentioned issues. There is no list of meetings available from which I could select a range of companies and industry associations. I can add additional names (such as UEAPME, Eurochambres, Eurocommerce, DLA Piper, Eurosil, European Construction Industry Federation, Verbond Belgische Ondernemingen), but I do not feel it is appropriate nor in the spirit of transparency to restrict my request even further by limiting it to only those companies and organisations that I would guess may have meetings on these issues. My request, after all, focuses on just two specific directives, a limited number of Commission DGs and it now also has a reduced time scope.

Yours sincerely,

Olivier Hoedeman
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)