The France 2 Special Envoy program returns on Monsanto this Thursday with new revelations about the company's lobbying practices, with, according to the channel, documents showing that European farmers have been recruited, and without their knowledge , to help defend glyphosate.
A survey of Greenpeace and the British media The Independent, published in France by radio RMC, unveiled in October 2018 that European associations (including "Agriculture and Freedom" in France), allegedly created by farmers wanting to defend the use glyphosate, were in fact the brainchild of an Irish-based lobbying firm, Red Flag Consulting, which worked for Monsanto.
"We got hold of secret documents of the company"
"We got hold of secret documents from the company that had developed this European strategy, applied in France and several other countries, on behalf of Monsanto," says Elise Lucet, presenter of "Special Envoy". These confidential documents detail the methods used to adhere to these associations of farmers, hiding them who was behind this structure: the members "were recruited by hostesses at the Salon of agriculture or agricultural fairs, without ever confessing that these are agencies working for Monsanto who are behind, "says the journalist.
Thanks to these documents, "we were able to demonstrate that it was a strategy of 'astroturfing', that is to say the creation of all parts of an apparently spontaneous movement", added Laura Aguirre de Carcer, one of the journalists of the program who investigated these practices.
Journalists stuck by Monsanto
Last week, France 2 and Le Monde had revealed that hundreds of personalities (politicians, scientists, journalists) were filed by the lobbying firm Fleishman Hillard on behalf of Monsanto, particularly according to their positions on pesticides and pesticides. GMOs and their propensity to be influenced.
Friday, the day after these revelations, the French justice has opened an investigation on suspicions of illegal registration. Several media and organizations, including AFP, have lodged a complaint with the CNIL (the data protection agency) and / or the justice system. After presenting his apology Sunday, the German group Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018, said Monday that this type of file existed "most likely" in other European countries than France.