Dear Madam, Sir,

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:

- All notifications of Peter Simpson of his intention to engage in a occupational activity, as required by Article 16 of the Staff Regulation

- Any authorisations to Mr Simpson to engage in occupational activities

- All e-mails between Mr Simpson and ECHA regarding new post-ECHA occupational activities

- All documents related to the assessment(s) whether Mr Simpson's occupational activities can be approved, including but not limited to discussions in the Management Board, the Joint Committee, and/or the Conflict of Interest Advisory Committee, including but not limited to the discussion of any conditions

Sincerely
Peter Teffer

Dear Madam, Sir,

Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.

I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents ATD/007/2023.

While I acknowledge that the requested information may contain personal data, I would like to demonstrate the necessity of the transmission of this data for a specific purpose in the public interest.

Article 16 of the Staff Regulation stipulates that officials intending to engage in an occupational activity, whether gainful or not, within two years of leaving the service shall inform their institution thereof using a specific form. If that activity is related to the work carried out by the official during the last three years of service and could lead to a conflict with the legitimate interests of the institution, the appointing authority may, having regard to the interests of the service, either forbid him from undertaking it or give its approval subject to any conditions it thinks fit.

Mr Peter Simpson left the European Chemicals Agency in December 2022 (according to his LinkedIn profile) and joined Rud Pedersen as of February 2023.

In the past years we have seen several cases of EU agency offiicals leaving their jobs to become lobbyists for corporate interests which are related to the work they carried out before they left the agency (the former director of the European Banking Authority joing AFME, and the former director of the European Defence Agency joining Airbus are two most prominent examples). These cases were the subject of investigations by the European Ombudsman (2168/2019/KR and OI/3/2021/KR )

These "revolving door" moves were not properly handled according to the European Ombudsman, and it is in the public interest that journalists such as myself are able to investigate whether the assessment of ECHA of Mr Simpsons new job is in line with the Staff Regulations or not. There is no other way for me as a journalist to assess this but to have access to the documents in question.

I would like to remind ECHA of the possibility of granting partial access. Of course I am not interested in personal data like Mr Simpson's address or phone number, and have no objection to such personal data being redacted.

Sincerely
Peter Teffer