2023-05-03 12:30:09
Can a lobby provide misleading information to parliamentarians to safeguard the interests it defends? For the first time, the Senate answered in the negative, criticizing the behavior of Phyteis, the representative organization of producers of phytosanitary products, accused of having blackmailed imaginary employment to fight the ban on the production of certain pesticides on French soil.
In a decision handed down on Wednesday May 3, of which The world took note, the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, ” given notice “ Phyteis to comply with the ethical obligations of probity applicable to lobbyists since the Sapin 2 law. Following an adversarial process, the Senate Ethics Committee found that the organization had “lack of rigor and prudence” in its lobbying activity.
During the discussions on the Pacte law, in 2018-2019, Phyteis – then known as the Union of industries for the protection of plants – had fought vigorously once morest the ban on the production, storage and circulation in France of pesticides banned in the European Union because of their toxicity. Brandishing the threat of the destruction of 2,700 “direct” jobs and 1,000 “indirect” jobs in the sector, which continues to export these substances to developing countries, the organization contacted a dozen senators for convince them to table amendments favorable to their interests, while at the same time working with the Prime Minister.
Successful lobbying at first
This lobbying proved effective, since the ban was finally set aside following the Senate vote, with the support of the government. “The senators who tabled the amendment relied on information from professionals, which they included in good faith in their explanatory memorandum”notes the ethics committee.
However, the reality of these figures was seriously questioned in January by an investigation by the investigative media Octopus, to which many manufacturers of phytosanitary products have acknowledged that the threats brandished by their representative organization were a fantasy. In fact, the ban on the production of these pesticides, which finally came into force in 2022 following a decision by the Constitutional Council, had no effect on the level of employment in the industrial sites concerned.
Seized by four NGOs following these revelations, the Senate ethics committee investigated for several weeks before reaching a final conclusion: Phyteis “was unable to explain objectively and in figures the methodology used to calculate the estimate [des emplois] threatened by the prohibition measure”. In its opinion, the committee is annoyed by the lack of cooperation from Phyteis, which took refuge behind business secrecy to refuse to communicate certain information to it.
You have 43.6% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
1683127411
#Senate #pins #pesticide #lobby #accused #blackmail #misleading
