Documents of Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi regarding meetings, emails, and notes with meat, poultry, and egg sector stakeholders on animal welfare legislation.
Secretariat-General of the European Commission,
Under the right of access to documents provided for in the EU Treaties and implemented by Regulation 1049/2001, I hereby request access to the following documents, whether already publicly available or not, covering the period 1 December 2024 to the date of this request:
1. All records of meetings, calls, or other contacts between Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, his Chef de Cabinet, Deputy Chef de Cabinet, or any member of his cabinet, and representatives of the following organisations or their members:
— European Livestock Voice (ELV)
— Copa-Cogeca
— AVEC (Association of Poultry Processors and Poultry Trade in the EU)
— AnimalhealthEurope
— Any national meat, poultry, or egg producer association
— Any private company operating in the meat, poultry, or egg sector
or any successor organisations
2. All correspondence (emails, letters, notes) between the cabinet and any of the above organisations or companies, regarding:
— The animal welfare legislative package
— The ban on caged farming (End the Cage Age ECI)
— The prohibition of male chick culling
— Any inter-service consultations on animal welfare legislation, if so, between DG AGRI and DG SANTE
— The delay or removal of animal welfare proposals from the Commission Work Programme
3. Any internal briefing notes, minutes, or memos related to meetings or communications with the above organisations on animal welfare legislation.
4. Any documents related to the position of DG SANTE or Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi's cabinet on the cage ban proposal, including any objections raised.
5. Any declarations of interest, recusal notices, or ethics disclosures filed by Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi or cabinet members in relation to the meat, poultry, or egg industry.
I request these documents in electronic format.
If full access cannot be granted, I request partial access to non-exempt portions and a clear explanation of the legal basis for any refusal, as required under Article 7 of Regulation 1049/2001.
Yours sincerely,
Anna Mulá Arribas
Calle Alameda, 22
28014 MADRID
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 11/03/2026 and registered on 12/03/2026 under the case number
2026/1443.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 07/04/2026. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
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1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Ms Mulá Arribas,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 12 March 2026 under case number EASE 2026/1443.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. The application concerns different Services, which must be
consulted.
We will not be able to send you the reply within the prescribed time limit
expiring on 7 April 2026.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 28 April 2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG SANTE / G3
European Commission
DG Health and Food Safety
Unit G3 - Animal welfare
[2][email address]
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex...
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Ms Mula Arribas,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 12/03/2026 under case number EASE 2026/1634.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 07/04/2026.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 28/04/2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG.A3 - Transparency & Ethics
References
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1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Ms Mulá Arribas,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2026/1443.
Kind regards,
European Commission
DG Health and Food Safety
Unit G3 - Animal welfare
[1][correo electrónico]
References
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1. mailto:[correo electrónico]
Dear Mr Gavinelli,
Thank you for your message concerning case EASE 2026/1443, received on 10 April 2026.
In response to your request for clarification under Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, we provide the following specification regarding point 1 of our request.
1. National meat, poultry, or egg producer associations
This category refers to associations, federations, or cooperatives representing producers in the meat, poultry, or egg sectors at the national level within the Member States of the European Union.
This includes organizations that act as recognized representative bodies of producers in their interactions with national authorities and/or EU institutions.
2. Private companies operating in the sector
This category refers to undertakings active in the production, processing, distribution, or commercialization of meat, poultry, or egg products within the European Union during the relevant period.
This includes companies, cooperatives, and vertically integrated operators engaged in any stage of the relevant agri-food supply chain.
For the purposes of identifying and retrieving relevant documents within Commission records, this category should be understood as covering entities that are identifiable through the following sources used by the European Commission for stakeholder and transparency purposes:
- The EU Transparency Register (including entities registered under relevant agri-food, livestock, or food production categories),
- Commission records of meetings, contacts, and stakeholder interactions held by Commissioners and Cabinet members,
- Internal databases and stakeholder management systems used by Commission services (including DG SANTE and other relevant Directorates-General),
- Publicly available lists of stakeholders engaging with EU policy-making in the agri-food sector, including industry and producer organizations active in the meat, poultry, and egg sectors.
Purpose of this clarification
This clarification is intended solely to define the scope of point 1 in operational and verifiable terms, enabling its processing under Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, while ensuring the widest possible access to documents in accordance with the principle of transparency.
We kindly request that the request be processed on this basis and that the 15 working-day deadline start to run accordingly.
Yours sincerely,
Anna Mulá Arribas
Dear applicant,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2026/1634.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG.A3 'Ethics and Transparency'
Dear Secretariat-General of the European Commission,
I acknowledge receipt of your message and the attached documents concerning case 2026/1634.
Kind regards,
Anna Mulá Arribas
I am writing to kindly follow up on my request for access to documents registered under reference number EASE 2026/1443. A
On 10 April 2026, I received your request for clarification under Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, which I replied to on the same date.
In your message, you indicated that the 15 working-day deadline would start running only upon receipt of my reply. As I submitted my response on 10 April 2026, I understand that the 15 working-day deadline is approaching, I would be grateful if you could confirm the expected date on which I may receive your reply.
Yours faithfully,
Anna Mulá Arribas
Dear Ms Mulá Arribas,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 12 March 2026 under case number EASE 2026/1443.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. The application concerns different Services, which must be
consulted.
We will not be able to send you the reply within the prescribed time limit
expiring on 5 May 2026.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 29 May 2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG SANTE / G3
European Commission
DG Health and Food Safety
Unit G3 - Animal welfare
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex...
Dear Ms Mulá Arribas,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 12 March 2026 under case number EASE 2026/1443.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. The application concerns different Services, which must be
consulted.
We will not be able to send you the reply within the extended time limit
expiring on 29 May 2026.
Please be reassured that we are doing our utmost to provide you with the
required documents as soon as possible.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
With kind regards,
DG SANTE / G3
European Commission
DG Health and Food Safety
Unit G3 - Animal welfare
[1][correo electrónico]
References
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1. mailto:[correo electrónico]
To the Secretariat-General,
Pursuant to Article 7(2) and Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, I hereby submit a confirmatory application concerning my request for access to documents registered under reference EASE 2026/1443.
My initial request was submitted on 11 March 2026 and registered on 12 March 2026. Following a request for clarification under Article 6(2), I provided the requested clarification on 10 April 2026.
The Commission subsequently extended the deadline pursuant to Article 7(3) of Regulation 1049/2001, indicating that the final deadline for replying would expire on 29 May 2026.
On 29 May 2026, DG SANTE informed me that it would not be able to provide a reply within the extended deadline and stated only that it was continuing to work on the request. No substantive decision has been adopted to date regarding points 1 to 4 of my application.
While I acknowledge receipt of the partial reply issued by the Secretariat-General's Unit A.3 concerning point 5 of my request, no final decision has been provided regarding the remainder of the application.
According to Article 8(3) of Regulation 1049/2001, the failure of an institution to reply within the prescribed time limits entitles the applicant to make a confirmatory application. The Court of Justice has consistently held that the deadlines established by Regulation 1049/2001 are binding and serve the objective of ensuring rapid and effective access to documents.
I therefore request the Secretariat-General to review the implicit refusal resulting from the Commission's failure to adopt a final decision within the applicable legal deadlines and to grant access to the documents requested under points 1 to 4 of my initial application.
Given the considerable delay already incurred, I also respectfully request that the confirmatory application be handled as swiftly as possible and that any identified documents be released without further delay.
For ease of reference, the pending parts of my request concern:
• records of meetings, calls and contacts between Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, his cabinet and representatives of meat, poultry and egg industry organisations and companies;
• correspondence relating to animal welfare legislation, including the cage ban proposal, the End the Cage Age
European Citizens' Initiative, the prohibition of male chick culling, inter-service consultations and decisions affecting the animal welfare legislative package;
• internal briefing notes, minutes and memoranda relating to such contacts;
• documents concerning the position of DG SANTE or Commissioner Várhelyi's cabinet regarding the cage ban proposal and any objections raised thereto.
I look forward to receiving the Commission's confirmatory decision within the time limits established by Regulation 1049/2001.
Yours faithfully,
Anna Mulá Arribas
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2026/1443, sent on 19/06/2026 and registered on 20/06/2026.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 13/07/2026. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear applicant,
We are writing concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case 2026/1443 registered on 20 June 2026.
We are currently working on your confirmatory request. However, we have
not yet been able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full
analysis of your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within
the prescribed time limit expiring on 13 July 2026 due to ongoing internal
consultations.
Therefore, in line with Article 8(2) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 we
need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new time
limit expires on 4 August 2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
Secretariat-General - Access to documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear applicant,
We are writing to you concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case 2026/1443, registered on 20 June 2026.
On 13 July 2026, we extended the time-limit for replying to your
confirmatory request to 4 August 2026.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to send you the reply within this
extended time limit due to ongoing internal consultations.
However, we assure you that we are doing our best to send a reply to your
confirmatory request as soon as possible.
We regret this additional delay and sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
Secretariat-General - Access to documents
European Commission
Dear Ms Mula Arribas,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2026/1443.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SANTE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
Dear applicant,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2026/1443.
Kind regards,
Secretariat-General - Access to documents
European Commission
Dear Sir/Madam,
I acknowledge receipt of the 11 documents provided on 13 August 2026 in response to my request for access to documents under case EASE 2026/1443.
However, I have not received the initial reply referred to in the Secretariat-General's closing letter as document Ares(2026)7857117.
Could you please provide me with a copy of this initial reply?
Thank you very much.
Kind regards,
Anna Mulá Arribas
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear applicant,
We apologise for the inconvenience caused and transmit herewith the copy
of the initial reply letter of 13 August 2026 referenced
Ares(2026)7857117 with the list of identified documents of your request
for access to Commission documents registered under case number
2026/1443.
Kind regards,
Secretariat-General – Access to documents
European Commission
On 16 August 2026, I submitted a confirmatory application under Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 to the Secretariat-General of the European Commission by email at [email address], the address indicated by the Commission in its decision as a means of redress.
The application requests a review of the Commission’s initial decision in EASE 2026/1443 (Ares(2026)7857117), in particular the full refusal of Document No. 1 and the completeness of the search concerning documents relating to Commissioner Várhelyi and his Cabinet.
The full confirmatory application was submitted directly to the Secretariat-General and is not reproduced here.
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2026/1443, sent on 16/08/2026 and registered on 17/08/2026.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 07/09/2026. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission