Several French political figures from the left to the far right, as well as the leader of the left-wing CGT union, have called for a parliamentary inquiry into reports that Macron had secret unannounced meetings with Uber when he was economy minister from 2014 to 2016 and that he had said to Uber that he had brokered a “deal” with the bitterly divided Socialist cabinet then in power under Francois Hollande. The revelations are contained in the Uber archives – a cache of 124,000 company documents leaked to the Guardian and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. On the sidelines of an event to mark the construction of a new semiconductor factory in Crolles, Macron was questioned by a reporter from Le Monde about meeting with Uber officials between 2014 and 2016. “I was a minister and I was doing my job,” he said. “We’ve seen too much of a kind of atmosphere where meeting business leaders, particularly when they’re foreign, is seen as bad.” He said his meetings with business leaders were “always formal” and included members of his staff. He said: “I’m proud of it. If they’ve created jobs in France, I’m very proud of that, and you know what, I’d do it again tomorrow and the day after that.” Q&A
What are Uber records?
projection The Uber Files is a global investigation based on a trove of 124,000 documents leaked to the Guardian by Mark MacGann, Uber’s former chief lobbyist in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The data consists of emails, iMessages and WhatsApp exchanges between the top executives of the Silicon Valley giant, as well as memos, presentations, notebooks, briefing documents and invoices. The leaked files cover 40 countries and span from 2013 to 2017, the period when Uber was aggressively expanding around the world. They reveal how the company broke the law, deceived police and regulators, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments around the world. To facilitate a global public interest investigation, the Guardian shared the data with 180 journalists in 29 countries through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The investigation was managed and led by the Guardian with the ICIJ. In a statement, Uber said: “We have not and will not condone past behavior that is clearly inconsistent with our current values. Instead, we’re asking the public to judge us based on what we’ve done in the last five years and what we’ll do in the years to come.” Thanks for your response. He said he is announcing new investments and the promise of 1,500 new jobs at Crolles precisely because he had similar “several months ago and in a confidential manner – because we have to protect the secrets of the companies – he met with the head of GlobalFoundries, who is here today “. Macron said that as president, he was the most outspoken world leader in regulating internet giants. “When I became president, we regulated the sector without parsimony. We are the first country to regulate online platforms and then promote it at the European level. So I’m extremely proud.” He told reporters: “You know what, here’s a scoop: it’s very difficult to create jobs without businesses and entrepreneurs. So I will continue to meet businesses and entrepreneurs to convince them to invest in our country and I will do everything I can to open up sectors where activity is blocked so that jobs can be created. Because every young person who got a job opportunity thanks to it, I’m happy.” Asked why he was still facing strong criticism for his dealings with Uber from the left-wing opposition coalition, Nupes, in parliament, he said “because they have lost their compass”. He added: “When you believe in social justice and equal opportunities, you have to fight for young people from difficult areas to find work. That was never their fight. But it was mine.” He added: “If we don’t fight for education, training and innovation – in other words economic opportunities – we will continue to have unemployment. And our unemployment – even if it has decreased in the last five years – is still very high.” Macron said the “victims” of unemployment in France were young people who had fewer qualifications and were “victims of discrimination”. He said that’s why he was fighting for full-time employment. At the first question session in the new French parliament on Tuesday, Danielle Simonnet of the hard-left France Unbowed party called for a parliamentary inquiry and criticized Macron as “a minister who served the interests of an American platform against the government’s view. and the French administration.” The Le Monde report said Mark McGann, the career lobbyist who led Uber’s efforts to win over governments in Europe, later backed Macron’s 2016-2017 presidential campaign. Do you have information on this story? The junior minister, Olivia Grégoire, responded in parliament that Macron, as finance minister, “did his job”. He added: “Meet Uber, also meet, let’s be precise: Netflix, Airbnb, Tesla and closer to home, [the French businesses] Doctolib, Backmarket. Why; Because these businesses are at the heart of the economy today, at the heart of the 21st century economy, and it’s a reality – whatever you think about it – that’s where the growth and the jobs are.” Grégoire added: “Who pushed for the regulation of the digital giants in Europe? France. Who pushed the need to not abuse personal data? France. Which country first proposed taxing net giants? France. Which country paid the price for this when sanctions were imposed by President Trump? France. So yes, the president, when he was finance minister, took every measure to encourage arrival but also to protect consumers.”
