The French, British, Finish and Danish system of occupational diseases will be described below with special emphasis on occupational diseases in the area of upper extremities. The regulations on recognition will be compared, to see whether this suggests new questions related to the German discussion on occupational diseases of the upper limbs. The presentation is based on national figures of occupational diseases, publications of the National Board of Industrial Injuries of the European "Network" EUROGIP and also on expert interviews with representatives of the national health insurers, scientists, physicians and trade unions. The recognition figures for diseases of the upper limbs are markedly higher in France, Great Britain, Finland and Denmark than in Germany. The reason for this is on the one hand carpal tunnel syndrome, which is not recognised as an occupational disease in Germany, while in France, Denmark and Great Britain this makes a significant contribution to occupational disease figures. On the other hand, the handling of the occupational disease procedure in these other European countries also plays an important role: In contrast to the procedure in Germany, the other countries under comparison generally assume the presence of an occupational disease when corresponding symptoms and other technical work requirements are present, without an assessment of the overall medical context. With the exception of one disease in Denmark, there is no compulsion to refrain from such work. Concurrent illnesses and stresses are attributed lesser importance.