EU Parliament: group presidents deny access for Monsanto lobbyists

Monsanto's lobbyists have been withdrawn from accessing the European Parliament (Photo © Pixabay)

Yesterday, the European Parliament’s leaders decided to ban Monsanto lobbyists and other representatives of the group from the parliament until further notice. After Monsanto has rejected the institution’s invitation to a hearing concerning “The Monsanto Papers and Glyphosate” on the 11^th of October 2017, the Greens/EFA Group had demanded to withdraw the concern’s access to the parliament. In a letter to the European Parliament, Monsanto justifies the refusal to attend the public consultation by writing that they don’t believe the hearing to be the right setting to discuss these issues. In line with that, the group declares to counter recent accusations about having overly influenced research of the safety of glyphosate.

Concerning the withdrawal of entrance to the EU Parliament for Monsanto representatives, Philippe Lamberts, president of the Greens/EFA Group, states:

 "Those who ignore the rules of democracy also lose their rights as a lobbyist in the European Parliament. US corporations must also accept the democratic control function of the parliament. Monsanto cannot escape this. There remain many uncertainties in the assessment of the pesticide glyphosate. Monsanto has to face the questions of parliamentarians and should not hinder the clarification process."