Dear European External Action Service,

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

- all correspondence (including emails, agendas, attendance list, minutes of meetings and another reports of such meetings) between officials/representatives of the EEAS and officials/representatives of the State of Honduras since 2009;

- all correspondence (including emails, agendas, attendance list, minutes of meetings and another reports of such meetings) between officials/representatives of the EEAS and officials/representatives of the European Court of Auditors, in the context of the drafting of the 2016 report on "the effectiveness of EU support to priority sectors in Honduras";

- any document (including emails, agendas, minutes of meetings, attendance list and any other relevant document) about the conditionality (especially to human rights commitment) of the development aid given to Honduras by the EU.

Yours faithfully,

Myriam Douo
Friends of the Earth Europe
Mundo B Building
Rue D'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels,
Belgium

Dear EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS,

Thank you for these documents, regarding the correspondence between the EEAS and the Honduran authorities, I would like to narrow down my request for now to:

* All correspondence, including meetings, emails, minutes and participants lists, about financing and aid, including aid agreements and compliance;
* All correspondence, including meetings, emails, minutes and participants lists, about human rights;
* All correspondence, including meetings, emails, minutes and participants lists, about AVA FLEGT;
* All correspondence, including meetings, emails, minutes and participants lists, about mining, hydroelectric projects.

Yours sincerely,
Myriam Douo

Dear European External Action Service,

Thank you for the documents you sent us so far, please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.

As per Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, I would like to file a confirmatory application asking you to reconsider your decision of 30 June 2017 refusing me access to “1) all correspondence (including emails, agendas, attendance list, minutes of meetings and another reports of such meetings) between officials/representatives of the EEAS and officials/representatives of the State of Honduras since 2009; 2) all correspondence (including emails, agendas, attendance lists, minutes of meetings and other reports of such meetings) between officials/representatives of the EEAS and officials/representatives of the European Court of Auditors, in the context of the drafting of the 2016 report on ‘the effectiveness of EU support to priority sectors in Honduras’; 3) any document (including emails, agendas, attendance list and any other relevant document) about the conditionality (especially to human rights commitments) of the development aid given to Honduras by the EU.

Contrary to your analysis, we do think there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the documents for the following reasons:

1. All mentioned areas (FLEGT, mining, hydroelectric) are controversial in Honduras, therefore the public needs to know what is gained by using EU funds. More specifically, regarding the AVA-FLEGT discussions, it is in the public interest to know if the EU is pushing the approval of the FPIC law in Honduras as a prerequisite for AVA-FLEGT. This current bill being promoted makes a mockery of FPIC and would make Indigenous people worse off by putting consultation decisions in the hands of the government actors, not the Indigenous communities. The government’s FPIC proposal is opposed by major Indigenous organizations and the UN Special Rapporteur has also expressed her concerns. Yet according to the notes of an AVA-FLEGT negotiation meeting, ‘‘la Union Europea apuntó que el tema de la CLPI es extremadamente importante para la UE, resaltando su satisfación sobre el advance del process que apoyará la possible aprobación de una ley de consulta.’ Given that Indigenous groups such as OFRANEH and COPINH have had their proposals for the FPIC law ignored and they reject the government’s proposal which would reduce Indigenous communities’ capacity to reject projects in their territory, it is crucial for the public interest to know what role the EU is playing in pushing this damaging bill. Does the Commission, for instance, make it mandatory or conditional to financial support for the Honduran government or the NGOs to join these meetings or support the bill.
2. EU development aid has been criticized by its own agencies (see http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocume...). If the EU decides to continue with this aid, the public needs to know what is the reasoning behind it, if there are recommendations for improvement and how they are being implemented.
3. There are different cases of serious violations of human rights associated with exploitation of projects in the sectors in which the documents have been requested. The intimidation, persecution and murder of community leaders opposing environmentally harmful projects is well documented (https://www.globalwitness.org/fr/campaig...) and undeniable. Numerous activists opposing mining and hydroelectric projects have been murdered (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...) or attacked. COPINH alone has presented formal denouncements of 40 hydroelectric projects approved without FPIC of Indigenous communities. In 2016 alone, 200 environmental, land and human rights defenders around the world have been murdered and Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for environmental, land and human rights activists. Both the Indigenous communities and EU citizens have a right to know what the EU is financing and if any public money goes to projects putting Indigenous communities in harms way. It is in the public interest to know how the Commission intends to make sure the projects involving EU funding are not leading to intimidation or the killing of environmental, land and human rights defenders. Arguing otherwise would be highly questionable.

We therefore ask you to reconsider your decision and grant us access to the documents requested.

A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/info...

Yours faithfully,

Myriam Douo