Former French President, Francois Hollande, denies that he and his Elysee office knew anything about the secret dealings between his then-Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and US-based transportation giant Uber. 

On Monday, hundreds of thousands of internal Uber files were leaked by European lobbyist, Mark MacGann, who was also Uber's former head of policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The files revealed that last week, Macron had undisclosed meetings with Uber representatives as the company aggressively pushed into European markets between the years 2013 and 2017.

More than 123,000 leaked secret documents have shown how #Uber secretly lobbied governments, hid data from police, and bypassed laws in their global expansion. #France #EmmanuelMacron pic.twitter.com/wEYfrzIyHD

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 11, 2022

"At the level of the Elysee, there was never any knowledge about even a shadow of a deal. If it happened, the Elysee was not aware of it," said Hollande, who served as president of the republic from 2012 to 2017. 

The files were obtained by The Guardian, and shared with 42 media outlets, including the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

During Hollande's reign, French taxi drivers stormed the streets of Marseille to protest the illegal presence of Uber in France which was taking their jobs. MacGann at the time went to get help from Macron, who quickly revised the suspension order for Uber in Marseille. 

Uber denied claims that Macron has done any favors for the company. In parallel, Macron's office contended that his job required that he remain in contact with such companies. 

Lawmakers in the French opposition called for a parliamentary inquiry into Macron's involvement with Uber. 

Macron caught up in Uber Files scandal, could face legal probe

Members of the opposition condemned Sunday rumors that French President Emmanuel Macron and online transportation giant Uber had a secret agreement while the former was a minister in François Hollande’s administration.

The allegations against Macron were made following the latest leaked data-based investigations, known on alternative media as the #UberFiles, conducted by leading international news outlets. France’s Le Monde daily report claimed, citing documents, text messages, and witnesses, that Uber came to a secret agreement with Macron between 2014 and 2016, at a time when he was the Minister of Economy, Industry, and Digital Affairs.

According to Le Monde's report, Macron's ministry planned to aid Uber to consolidate its place in France. The aid came in the form of Macron having suggested, allegedly, the company’s present "ready-made" amendments to deputies to help their case.

Deputies from the opposition have criticized what they claimed to be close coordination between Macron and Uber during a period when the latter was attempting to get past stringent government regulation of their industry.