French President Emmanuel Macron is accused by a consortium of journalists of facilitating the founding of California-based Uber in France, when he was Minister of Economy from 2014 to 2016.
Reports released this Monday (11) by Le Monde newspaper and public broadcasters group Radio France show that Macron acted as a kind of PR for the American group to persuade then-Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to open the market. putting taxis at the service of private drivers. At that time, French taxi drivers were making huge protests against the liberalization of the industry. Opponents describe the disclosures as a “state scandal”.
The investigation was dubbed the “Uber Files” by the French press. The documents were originally obtained by the British newspaper The Guardian and transferred for analysis by a consortium of French journalists.
An Excel spreadsheet released by Le Monde from the lobby office hired by Uber shows that 233 people have been selected to assist in the platform implementation process, including ministers, government advisers, parliamentarians, as well as journalists, consumer associations and influential people. .
Consulting Fipra’s lobbyists pledged to take action to create a favorable ecosystem for the company and to convince the ministries and French management of the service’s relevance.
Thousands of internal Uber documents from 2013 to 2017 reveal that the company was able to benefit from the helpfulness and support of Emmanuel Macron while in the Ministry of the Economy, amid hostility from public authorities and legal issues.
Meetings at the headquarters of the economy
France Info radio station broadcasts messages exchanged via email and SMS about the progress of negotiations between Uber co-founders Macron, Travis Kalanick and lobbyists.
Some revelations are embarrassing, as they show that Macron is totally in favor of the deal and will persuade the prime minister to “shut down” protesting taxi drivers across the country. The investigation also reveals that Macron held talks at the Ministry of the Economy with lobbyists hired by the company, including David Plouffe, the founder of Uber and the group’s vice president, and former adviser to Barack Obama.
In the minutes of a meeting in January 2015, one of the lobbyists writes that representatives of Uber and Macron described the necessary legislative changes and the strategy to be adopted to open the taxi driver market to Uber’s service. drivers.
Macron, sought by the ICIJ consortium of journalists, did not respond to the request. “Emmanuel Macron has been directed to engage with many of the companies involved in the profound transformation of services that took place during the years in question; administrative or regulatory barriers,” the press office of the Élysée Palace said in a statement.
Left-wing dissidents condemn a “State scandal” and advocate the opening of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry in Parliament.
source: Noticias
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