After McKinsey, Rothschild and Alstom, among many other sensitive cases, here come the “UberFiles”. A new politico-economic scandal whose facts date back to 2015, and whose magnitude is (still) undermining the Macron government. And for good reason ! On July 10, we learned through The Guardian that during his tenure as Minister of the Economy under François Hollande, Emmanuel Macron played devil’s advocate for the American ride-hailing company Uber, tackling French justice despite of the national interest.
“You are buccaneers!”
Britain’s The Guardian newspaper retrieved thousands of incriminating documents about Uber’s international lobbying, then shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. We discover the secret participation of the current French president.
We are in the summer of 2015, when Emmanuel Macron and Travis Travanick, CEO of Uber, build their plan. It is with their “Pop” offer that the American company plans to make a splash in France. The latter allowed everyone to improvise themselves as a driver, thereby crushing the market for French taxis. And, if this practice was quickly deemed illegal, Emmanuel Macron did his best to make it continue against all odds.
Between lobbying meetings, negotiations with the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) and personal investment, the young French Minister of the Economy will somehow obtain the softening of the regulations for Uber. The other side of the coin is that French taxis demonstrated in large numbers, and this triggered strong tensions.
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“Should we trust Cazeneuve?”, then asks Travis Travanick to Emmanuel Macron. Then Minister of the Interior – therefore responsible for the proper management of the demonstrations, the person concerned showed fierce opposition to the development of the VTC company in France, their first export market. “You are buccaneers”, hammered Bernard Cazeneuve to the leaders of Uber, knowing that they were under the influence of numerous investigations in France, on the criminal level as on the tax level. Nevertheless, the Minister of the Economy knows what he is doing. As Radio France reports, he responds: “We had a meeting yesterday with the Prime Minister. Cazeneuve will silence the taxis and I will bring everyone together next week to prepare the reform and the good law. Caz accepts the agreement. When are you in Paris? Best .”
A few other times, while Uber comes up against French justice, Emmanuel Macron kicks in touch. But most of the time he takes care of it “personally”. Radio France summarizes as follows: “The Uber Files reveal other direct, regular, almost familiar contacts between the leaders of Uber and Emmanuel Macron. Bercy seems to have taken control of the VTC file – a sector nevertheless placed under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport. And Uber is grateful. For Uber, the reception in the other ministries is on the other hand much colder. In Transport and the Interior, we denounce the methods “cowboys” or “pirates” employed by the American company reluctant to comply with French laws.”
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We know today that the French president did not hesitate to repeat this kind of practice, whether with the company Alstom, the consulting firm McKinsey or the Rothschild bank. While his party has just narrowly won a relative majority in the National Assembly, and the new government, barely formed, is already subject to a motion of censure, this new revelation could well complete the “Macronie “.
From corruption to impeachment
Unsurprisingly, the web ignited upon hearing the news. Mainly on Twitter, Internet users are enraged:
We must now seriously talk about impeachment. #UberFiles
— Alexis Poulin (@Poulin2012) July 10, 2022
“While citizens become poorer, conflicts of interest continue at the top of the state”writes Jean-Baptiste Rivoire, founder of Off Investigation.
On the left, the national secretary of Europe Ecology the Greens Julien Bayou accuses: “Macron or the one who put lobbies at the heart of power. Highways, General Electric, Uber, banks, the list is long of private interests favored by the former Minister of the Economy who became President. Our country must supervise lobbies. ”
On the right, the president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella is rather in agreement: “It was public knowledge, the #UberFiles demonstrate it once again. Despite the permanent “at the same time”, Emmanuel Macron’s career has a consistency, a common thread: to serve private interests, often foreign, before national interests.”
For his part, the essayist Mathieu Slama summarizes: “Macron was therefore the chief lobbyist for a company that disregards national regulations, does tax optimization, refuses employee status to its drivers and imposes violent managerial practices. You have to realize the scandal…”
And some take the opportunity to put the other business of Macronie back on the table:
We’re not going to lie to each other, #UberFiles are not much compared to #RothschildGate et #McKinseyGate; why do the media talk about the first case and not the other two? ????
— Bastien Tell (@bastien_tell) July 11, 2022
In short, this still gives grain to grind to the oppositions to the majority ofEnsemble ! This Monday, July 11, while Élisabeth Borne confidently goes to the National Assembly to attend the vote on a motion of censure tabled against her, it could be that this latest news reverses the steam.