MACRON. Internal documents at Uber reveal his close ties with Emmanuel Macron during his time at the Ministry of the Economy. Text messages even suggest the existence of a secret “deal”, according to Le Monde.
A secret “deal” between the company Uber and Emmanuel Macron in 2015: this is what an investigation by the World Released Sunday July 10. An investigation which is based in particular on messages exchanged between executives of Uber and Emmanuel Macron himself, at the time when he was Minister of the Economy of François Hollande (2014-2015). The VTC driver company Uber then began to develop in France but encountered resistance from the law: in October 2014, the Thévenoud law, passed in the Assembly, strictly regulated the conditions for becoming a VTC driver, prohibiting the new service of Uber, UberPop. It is then that, according to the World, executives from Uber France met Emmanuel Macron, Minister of the Economy, and found significant support in the future president. From then on, Emmanuel Macron got involved alongside the company to promote its development, against the reluctance of President François Hollande and the rest of the government. The daily even speaks of a secret “deal” between the young minister and the American company.
The investigation of World, published Sunday July 10 in the evening, is based on internal documents at Uber, transmitted to the British daily The Guardian, and researched by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 42 media partners. Among these documents, text exchanges implicate Emmanuel Macron. The report of an interview between four figures of Uber France and the Minister of the Economy, in October 2014, reveals the attitude of the latter: “Meeting mega top with Emmanuel Macron this morning. France loves us after allyou”, writes Mark MacGann, the company’s lobbyist. Subsequently, the survey counts 17 “significant exchanges” between representatives of Uber and Emmanuel Macron’s team, in the first eighteen months of the latter at the Ministry of the Economy.
“Turnkey” amendments drafted by Uber and tabled in the Assembly
More specifically, the “deal” referred to The world would have been tied during the year 2015: exchanges of SMS suggest a “win-win” agreement, in which Emmanuel Macron would have undertaken to simplify the conditions of access to the driver’s license VTC, in exchange for the Uber’s abandonment of its controversial UberPop service. The Minister of the Economy would then have suggested to Uber to draft amendments to the law governing VTC drivers and to send them directly to the socialist deputy Luc Belot, very favorable to the company. This is what was done: the amendments were all rejected in the Assembly, but Emmanuel Macron took the opportunity to announce a decree which took up the main lines. In early 2016, this decree drastically reduced the number of training hours required to obtain a VTC driver’s license. In the process, Uber gave up its UberPop service.
During the exchanges of July 3 which ratified this “deal”, Emmanuel Macron assured Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber, that he had received the approval of the Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, and Bernard Cazeneuve, Minister of the Interior. “We had a meeting yesterday with the Prime Minister,” wrote Macron. “Cazeneuve will make sure the taxis stay calm and I will meet everyone next week to prepare the reform and correct the law. Caz has accepted the deal.” Asked by the WorldBernard Cazeneuve denies having knowledge of the agreement in question.
Uber seeks help from Emmanuel Macron via text message
The world also recounts several episodes where members of Uber, in disadvantageous situations, directly addressed Emmanuel Macron to ask for his support. In October, Laurent Nuñez, police prefect of Marseille, signs an order prohibiting Uber in part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department. Immediately, an SMS is sent to Macron by Mark MacGann, Uber’s chief lobbyist: “Could you ask your office to help us understand what is going on?“ To which the Minister of the Economy replies that he will “look at this personally”. three days earlier, the decree is reviewed and the ban disappears. Laurent Nuñez, who has become a close adviser to the Elysée, now provides the World not been under any pressure.
A few months earlier, in July 2015, during a search conducted by the Budget Ministry at the headquarters of Uber in Paris, for suspicion of tax evasion, Mark MacGann had already turned to Emmanuel Macron by SMS : “Sorry to bother you, but raid at this time of twenty officials from the public finance department. They say they will put [nos] leaders in custody. […] Can you ask your services to advise us?” This SMS had remained unanswered.
How does the Elysée respond to the accusations against Emmanuel Macron?
Contacted by the editorial staff of World, the Elysée affirms that the relations between Emmanuel Macron and Uber France did not go beyond the framework of his functions as Minister of the Economy: the current president was “naturally led to exchange with many companies engaged in the profound change of services that occurred during the years mentioned, which should be facilitated by unraveling certain administrative or regulatory locks”. Emmanuel Macron could well be directly questioned on the subject in the coming days: according to information from Teleramaan interview with the President of the Republic is scheduled for July 14 by the TF1 and France 2 channels.
The left reacts to the link between Macron and Uber
The revelations of World did not fail to make the left opposition react. “Macron or the looting of the country. Advisor and minister to François Hollande and lobbyist for a US multinational aimed at permanently deregulating labor law. And this even, ignoring court decisions”, writes Mathilde Panot, the president of the group of the Insoumis in the National Assembly. There was also indignation on the side of the communist deputy Fabien Roussel, who denounced “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 achievements and against the workers’ rights.”