Official notification to the European Commission on 20 June of Bayer’s proposed acquisition of Monsanto has pushed environmental NGOs to call on Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager to block the merger.
“Bayer and Monsanto already wield enormous power over our food and farming system, and their joining forces would be bad news for citizens, farmers and the environment. All eyes are now on Margrethe Vestager. … She must block now this merger to prevent these mega-corporations from taking over an ever-larger portion of our countryside and food system”, said Adrian Bebb of Friends of the Earth Europe. On 27 March over 200 NGOs wrote to the Commission (see EUROPE 11625).
On 23 June, two MEPs put a written question to Vestager (see EUROPE 11815). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)