French President Emmanuel Macron backed the economic development of US company Uber in France and signed a secret “deal” when he was economy minister between 2014 to 2016, an international media investigation known as the “Uber Files” published on Sunday reveals.
The investigation is based on 124,000 confidential internal Uber documents leaked to the UK newspaper The Guardian. Forty other international newspapers, including French newspaper Le Monde and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), also took part in the analysis of documents.
According to the investigation, Macron signed a secret “deal” with Uber to “make France work for Uber so that Uber can work in and for France,” which Le Monde called a “simple exchange”. He did so when tensions between taxi and ride-sharing companies were at an all-time high in the country.
Macron promised “a drastic simplification of the legal requirements” to obtain a ride-sharing licence following French courts’ decision to deem UberPop, one of the car-hailing company’s European brands, illegal in 2015 after lawmakers adopted the so-called Taxi Law, Le Monde reported. Macron went so far as to “almost apologise” to Uber after lawmakers adopted the bill, according to an internal Uber memo seen by Le Monde.
According to the international investigation, Macron intervened on behalf of Uber while the French anti-fraud authority investigated Uber’s business practices and model. Macron is also said to have suggested to Uber “to prepare bill amendments ahead of time” that he would then transfer to MP allies.
French authorities quickly responded to the allegations levelled at Macron, saying his actions were part of his normal prerogatives as minister. He was “naturally expected to discuss with companies involved in the profound changes of the services economy”, they said.
The investigation into Uber spans several countries, exposing Uber’s aggressive lobbying techniques on a wider scale.
“In their desire to break the taxi monopoly, Uber’s managers and employees have knowingly broken the law and caused havoc in many countries, hoping to impose themselves by a fait accompli tactic,” writes Le Monde.
The Guardian also explains that Uber managers made it compulsory to implement a “kill switch” so that confidential documents could not be accessed during raids.
In a statement published on Monday (11 July), Uber outlined that the new CEO, Dara Khosrowshashi was “tasked with transforming every aspect of how Uber operates” when hired five years ago.
“We have not and will not make excuses for past behavior that is clearly not in line with our present values”, the statement reads.
Macron, who was re-elected president in April, does not have an absolute majority in the National Assembly, which means he will have to rely on other parties to pass reforms.
[Updated at 11:52 to include Uber comments on the allegations]
Source: euractiv.com
