Bayer's US-based Monsanto also led two ministers of the current federal government in its controversial lists. This is clear from a small request of the left in the Bundestag. Affected are ever a minister of the CDU and the SPD. The name of the ministers does not mention the federal government in their answer.
Whether the ministers were led as critics or supporters of Monsanto, the Federal Government was not known, it said in the answer to the request. Also, individual employees of the Ministry of Agriculture were therefore on the lists and a person of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. The institute was criticized for its uncritical attitude to the controversial Monsanto herbicide glyphosate.
In the 2016/17 created by PR agencies for Monsanto lists were in Germany 202 people, in France even at least 1450th In view of such numbers make one of the lack of desire to clarify the federal government "stunned," says Jan Korte, parliamentary director of the Left. The government let itself be "lulled" by the statements of the Bayer AG.
Bayer himself had sharply criticized the practices after acquaintance with the snooping and apologized. An American law firm was commissioned with the Enlightenment. Last week, Bayer went on the report of the firm back on the offensive: The lists with friends and enemies are lawful. It has "found no evidence for the allegations that have been documented on the stakeholder lists hobbies, leisure activities or other personal interests," said Bayer.
Marius Stelzmann of the corporate-critical NGO "Coordination Against Bayer Dangers" considers this questionable. According to French media reports, the responsible FleishmanHillard agency had commissioned other agencies that had collected non-public data on persons. Green MEPs like Michèle Rivasi and José Bové want to sue for that. A month ago it had become known that the then Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks (SPD) was on Monsanto's secret list.
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