It has been known for some time now that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been in Monsanto’s back pocket, helping the agribusiness giant to cover up information about the carcinogenicity of its flagship product, Roundup. It turns out that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is just as corrupt when it comes to Monsanto, if not as clever.

Whereas the EPA had actually been in communication with Monsanto, agreeing to use its bought-and-paid-for research from corporate “biostitutes,” EFSA simply copied its information straight from the company’s own literature.

News of this latest bit of unscrupulous behavior was reported this week in the UK Guardian. For the past several years, there has been a growing body of evidence from the independent scientific community that Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, poses a range of serious dangers to human health.

Last year, the World Health Organization concluded that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Despite all of this information, EFSA has taken the official position that “glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans and the evidence does not support classification with regard to its carcinogenic potential.”

That statement was published in a report appearing in the EFSA Journal in the fall of 2015, which was prepared by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment at the request of EFSA. As it turns out, most of that report was lifted, word for word, from Monsanto’s own company documents. From the Guardian story:

“Dozens of pages of the paper are identical to passages in an application submitted by Monsanto on behalf of the Glyphosate Task Force (GTF), an industry body [i.e., lobbying group] led by the company.”

It was discovered that one of the “studies” had been led by two employees of Monsanto.

In an attempt to defend the organization, an EFSA representative pointed out that the studies referenced are readily available and accessible by the general public. That excuse doesn’t pass muster with Greenpeace’s European director of food policy, Franziska Achterberg. “Whether this is a question of negligence or intent, it is completely unacceptable,” she told the Guardian. “[It] calls into question the entire EU pesticide approval process.” Achterberg points out that relying on Monsanto’s own science effectively puts the industry in control of decisions that have serious implications for public health and safety.

This news comes just as EU countries are preparing to vote on a renewal of Monsanto’s license, which if approved, would allow European farmers to continue using the toxic herbicide for ten more years. In the past, this license has been renewed for short periods of time.

Monsanto’s current license, last renewed in July 2016, expires at the end of this year. A clear majority of Europeans want to see a ban on glyphosate – including 70% of Germans. However, the vote is likely to come down to France, which opposes renewal, and Germany, whose current chancellor, Angela Merkel, has supported the use of glyphosate in the past – but has been unable to garner support from Germany’s legislature. France and Germany are two of the largest grain producers in Europe – and both governments are under pressure from farmers who want to continue to use the controversial herbicide.