Lpublished in The world “Uber Files”, internal documents revealing the methods of the American platform Uber to develop abroad, have highlighted more than detestable means. Of these documents entrusted by the former lobbyist Mark MacGann to the British daily The Guardian and members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, including The world is involved, a heavy scent of scandal emerges.
“Uber Files”, an international investigation
“Uber Files” is an investigation based on thousands of internal Uber documents sent by an anonymous source to the British daily The Guardianand forwarded to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 42 media partners, including The world.
Emails, presentations, meeting minutes… These 124,000 documents, dated from 2013 to 2017, offer a rare dive into the mysteries of a start-up which was then seeking to establish itself in cities around the world despite a regulatory context. unfavorable. They detail how Uber has used, in France as elsewhere, all the tricks of lobbying to try to change the law to its advantage.
The “Uber Files” also reveal how the Californian group, determined to impose itself by a fait accompli and, if necessary, by operating illegally, has implemented practices deliberately playing with the limits of the law, or which may amount to judicial obstruction of the investigations of which he was the subject.
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The stunned reader learns of the thuggish methods used by company officials to achieve their end: circumvention of the rule of law, call for civil disobedience, fomentation of coups with, in parallel, powerful lobbying among economists and politicians open to their cause.
Intoxicated by the billions of dollars raised in the early 2010s, self-invested in the messianic mission of changing the world of work through digitization, the start-up believed itself to be above laws, states and regulations. An access of hubris that Travis Kalanick, the toxic entrepreneur who was at its head, had ended up paying for. He had to leave the management of the company in 2017.
These revelations have fueled controversy in France. La Nupes strongly questioned Emmanuel Macron, who was then Minister of the Economy of François Hollande and had, as such, favored the establishment of the company in France. Insubordinate France invoked a “state scandal” and demanded the unlikely convening of a parliamentary commission of inquiry. In return, the Head of State said to himself “extremely proud” having “shaken the established order” to create jobs, and he accused the left of having “lost the compass”.
Installation in the hussar
The fact that Emmanuel Macron helped the company establish itself when he was economy minister should come as no surprise to anyone. The taxi monopoly had long been in his sights. He had studied the perverse effects within the framework of the commission for the liberation of French growth, entrusted to Jacques Attali in 2008, and of which he had been the deputy general rapporteur. Customer service left more and more to be desired and the organized shortage of taxis prevented job creation, even though there were clear needs. He was also not the first minister of the economy to want to put an end to this situation, it was still necessary to dare. He had found an ally in Uber, but an ally without faith or law.
Today, the latter is still looking for a satisfactory economic model. Its drivers too often remain underpaid, poorly protected, but jobs have been created, especially in the suburbs, and taxi companies have significantly improved their customer service. The balance sheet of this hussar installation is therefore sufficiently nuanced to disqualify the cookie-cutter trials.
On the other hand, the “Uber Files” undeniably highlight an obvious fact: the need for better supervision of lobbying activities. It is essential to protect elected officials and governments through increased transparency against pressure from powerful actors. The health of our democracy is at stake. The European Commission’s latest report on the rule of law, which urges France to do much better in this area, says nothing else.