Comment PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron was faces public criticism and parliamentary scrutiny on Monday after a series of documents detailing close ties between him and Uber during his time as France’s economy minister. “We urgently need to be able to have clarity and draw consequences,” said Alexis Corbière, vice-president of the main far-left party’s parliamentary group, who proposed a special inquiry beyond the expected debates in the French National Assembly and Senate this the week. “A president — or someone who wants to be — cannot be lobbyists in the service of private corporate interests,” Corbière said, according to Public Sénat, a parliamentary television channel. France’s left and far-right opposition parties, buoyed by recent gains in the country’s parliamentary elections, pounced on the revelations Sunday night and Monday morning, calling them a looming “state scandal” and possible evidence of “collusion.” .” Macron has never hidden that he was an early supporter of Uber. But internal messages from company executives from 2013 to 2017 suggest his support went far beyond what was publicly known — and at times contradicted the policies of the left-wing government he served at the time. As Uber entered France, Emmanuel Macron was a ‘true ally’ The documents are part of the Uber files, a trove of more than 124,000 internal records obtained by the Guardian and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a Washington-based nonprofit newsroom, and dozens of other news organizations around the world. including The Washington Post. On Monday, former Uber lobbyist Mark MacGann publicly identified himself as the source of the files. The Washington Post and other project partners previously agreed to keep his identity confidential. According to the filings, Uber executives and lobbyists believed Macron was willing to support them by pushing regulators to be “less conservative” in interpreting rules limiting the company’s operations and trying to loosen rules that prevented expansion of the company in France. At times, Uber has even been surprised by the extent of its support, broadcast internal communication. Asked for comment before the documents were released, the French presidency said in a statement to The Post and other media that “economic and employment policies at the time, in which [Macron] he was an active participant, they are well known’ and that his ‘functions naturally led him to meet and interact with many companies’. Asked for further comment after publication, Elysium on Monday referred reporters to its previous statement. “I knew the [Macron] was in favor of Uber,” said Alain Vidalies, who was France’s deputy transport minister from 2014 to 2017. But “I have to say that even I am surprised,” Vidalies told France’s public broadcaster. About Uber Files research Although the documents end in 2017, the year Macron was elected president, they are directly related to how Macron has since tried to implement his agenda. Macron, who was re-elected in April, has sought to free up the French economy – and, his critics say, that has meant clashing with anyone who raises concerns about the social impact of his moves. This criticism is expected to find greater ground in Parliament during his second term, now that he has lost his absolute parliamentary majority amid gains from the far left and far right. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, an outspoken critic of Uber and other multinationals operating in France, is now the public face of the largest opposition bloc in the lower house of Parliament, where the potential investigation would take place. Evidence from the Uber Files investigation Mélenchon regularly complains about French society’s “hyper-sensitivity”, an umbrella term used to describe transport and home delivery services, and criticized Macron’s support for a sector he sees as undermining workers’ rights. Members and allies of Mélenchon’s France Unbowed party were among the most vocal critics on Monday. Mathilde Panot, the leader of the alliance in parliament, suggested that Macron had helped Uber “plunder the country” and criticized the president for acting as a “lobbyist for an American multinational that aims to permanently deregulate labor law”. Aurélien Taché, a left-wing member of parliament, said the files raised questions about “Emmanuel Macron’s perception of loyalty in politics, to the government he belonged to at the time and to his country”. According to the filings, Macron was in frequent contact with Uber executives between 2014 and 2016 and planned moves that at times appeared to be at odds with the goals of then-Prime Minister Manuel Valls and others who advocated stricter rules for Uber and similar companies. . Marine Le Pen’s far-right party – which, despite losing the presidential race, won 11 times more seats in last month’s parliamentary election than in 2017 – similarly seized on the files, describing them as “Emmanuel’s first scandal Macron. five-year term”. But Macron’s allies – who still have a simple majority in parliament – appeared ready to defend his interactions with the company. “Above all, it is the president who has allowed the arrival of a certain number of companies and indeed to promote the emergence of companies in our country, to promote their establishment, to support our industrialization, to facilitate the creation of jobs. I think this is clearly the role of an economy minister and a head of state,” Aurore Bergé, who leads Macron’s party in parliament, told French television. The Uber filings may raise questions in France that go beyond the extent of Macron’s support. Uber used violent attacks against its drivers to pressure politicians The records also show that Uber used stealth technology to prevent government raids during its global expansion. And as angry taxi drivers, fearing for their livelihoods, clashed with their Uber rivals on the streets of Paris in 2015 and 2016, Some company executives saw physical confrontations as a means to gain public sympathy and support. “The most important question now,” wrote Cédric O, France’s former undersecretary for digital affairs under Macron, “is whether or not the establishment [of Uber] it was something good socially and economically.”
Read the investigation: The Uber files
The Uber Files is an international investigation into the company’s aggressive entry into cities around the world — while often questioning the reach of existing laws and regulations. Documents illuminate how Uber used stealth technology to thwart regulators and law enforcement, and how the company courted prominent political leaders, Russian oligarchs and media conglomerates as it sought a foothold outside the United States. The project is based on more than 124,000 emails, text messages, memos and other files provided to the Guardian by a former top Uber lobbyist, Mark MacGann. It shared the material with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which helped lead the project, and dozens of other news organizations, including the Washington Post. Read more from the survey: Key facts from the Uber archives Uber used violent attacks against its drivers to pressure politicians Former top executive Mark MacGann appears as source of Uber Files ‘Hit the kill switch’: Regulators entered Uber offices only to see computers go dark before their eyes Uber promised South Africans better lives but knew drivers were risking debt and risk As Uber entered France, Emmanuel Macron was a ‘true ally’
