French officials failed to enforce laws as the US tech giant took over the market but were not involved in criminal wrongdoing, MPs have said
FILE PHOTO: Taxi drivers protest against Emmanuel Macron during the 2017 French presidential election campaign © BORIS HORVAT / AFP
A French parliamentary commission has criticized tech giant Uber for its aggressive and illegal expansion into the country’s market. In a report released on the issue MPs acknowledged that officials, including President Emmanuel Macron, had served as allies for the firm, but failed to establish any criminality on their part.
“The confidentiality and intensity of contacts between Uber and Macron… testify to an opaque but privileged relationship, and reveal the inability of our system to measure and prevent the influence of private interests on public decision-making,” the 500-page document said.
The inquiry was triggered by the so-called Uber Files, a collection of internal documents leaked to British newspaper The Guardian by an insider. According to media reports last year, Macron, who was economy minister between 2014 and 2016, maintained contact with Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick and supported the company’s business model.
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In particular, Macron was accused of negotiating a “secret deal” with French cabinet members, which made it easiest for the ride-hailing app to enroll new drivers. In exchange, it allegedly agreed to shut down controversial sister service UberPop, which was the focus of protests by taxi drivers.
According to the report, the officials in question denied under oath that there was any deal involved. Mark MacGann, the Uber whistleblower who was formerly the company’s chief lobbyist for Europe, also said he would not characterize the political agreement as a “deal,” because the word gives the misleading impression “that a suitcase of money was exchanged.” Overall, the commission said it found no conflicts of interest, hidden agendas, or dereliction of duty in the actions of French officials.
However, there is reportedly evidence of internal disputes among members of the investigation, which Radio France attributed to political differences between the body’s president, Benjamin Haddad, who is a close friend of Macron, and its rapporteur, left-wing opposition MP Danielle Simonnet.
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Simonnet expressed regret that the commission had failed to interview any former members of Macron’s office from his time as economy minister, citing “systematic opposition” from some parliamentary investigators. If questioned, they could have offered “additional insights,” she claimed.
The commission criticized Uber for the “cynicism” of its strategy to lobby officials and dodge law enforcement action, and confirmed that it had failed to deliver on its promise to create jobs in France.
