Macron caught up in Uber Files scandal, could face legal probe
The French hard-left party and far-right party are both calling for the investigation into Macron's past as the Uber Files unravel a scandal that can end his career.
-
French President Emmanuel Macron caught in the Uber Files scandal
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.
When contacted by AFP, Uber France acknowledged that the two parties had spoken. However, they argued that the talks with Macron had been scheduled as part of his routine ministerial responsibilities, which included the private-hire industry.
AFP then contacted the president’s office to request a statement on the topic to which the office responded by saying that the then-economy minister, Macron, had “naturally” been in contact with many “companies involved in a profound change in services that has occurred over the years mentioned, which should be facilitated by unraveling certain administrative or regulatory locks".
But Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of the hard-left opposition France Unbowed party, denounced on Twitter what she described as the "Macron or the looting of the country. Adviser and minister to François Hollande and lobbyist for a US multinational aimed at permanently deregulating labor law. And this even, ignoring court decisions."
🚨 Macron ou le pillage du pays.
— Mathilde Panot (@MathildePanot) July 10, 2022
Conseiller et ministre de François Hollande et lobbyiste pour multinationale états-unienne visant à déréguler durablement le droit du travail.
Et ce même, en faisant fi des décisions de justice.#UberFiles https://t.co/82Eo3HYiH3
Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel described Le Monde's story as "Damning revelations about the active role played by Emmanuel Macron, then minister, to facilitate the development of Uber in France. Against all our rules, all our social rights, and against workers' rights.”
Révélations accablantes sur le rôle actif joué par Emmanuel Macron, alors ministre, pour faciliter le développement d'Uber en France.
— Fabien Roussel (@Fabien_Roussel) July 10, 2022
Contre toutes nos règles, tous nos acquis sociaux et contre les droits des travailleurs.https://t.co/yiEaAOtWgZ
Communist deputy Pierre Dharreville said that “Well, Uber deserves a small commission of inquiry.”
Bon ben Uber mériterait bien une petite commission d’enquête…
— Pierre Dharréville (@pdharreville) July 10, 2022
Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally party, tweeted that “We knew that the economist brandished by the public service to "dismantle" Marine Le Pen's project was close to Emmanuel Macron. We discover with the #UberFiles that he is also a servile lobbyist for American private firms, author of reports of convenience!”
On savait que l'économiste brandi par le service public pour "démonter" le projet de Marine Le Pen était un proche d'Emmanuel Macron. On découvre avec les #UberFiles que c'est également un servile lobbyiste de firmes privées américaines, auteur de rapports de complaisance ! https://t.co/KS6U7x3zNz
— Jordan Bardella (@J_Bardella) July 11, 2022
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has organized the Uber Files investigation, which is predicated on a leak of tens of thousands of documents to Britain's Guardian newspaper from an unidentified source. 42 partners, alongside the ICIJ, are working on this investigation.
