investigation: During his first campaign in 2016-2017, Macron and his campaign team (multiple European politicians) were supported by many people who promoted the development model of emerging companies, including Uber’s former chief lobbyist in Europe, Mark MacGann.
Macron and McGann. « THE GUARDIAN »
McGann knows Macron well. For two years, Uber's chief lobbyist in Europe has met regularly, exchanged phone calls and text messages with economy ministers. Although Macron's reputation has declined recently, he has largely retained his first impression: Emmanuel Macron is a talented, charismatic man who is trying to steer France in the right direction.
In early 2016, during the Davos Economic Forum, McGann sent a message to Macron, then French Economy Minister, asking if he needed help launching a presidential campaign. Although Macron did not officially announce his candidacy until November, rumors that he would run were rampant before that.
McGann was no longer a full-time employee at Uber when he offered to help Macron with his campaign. His departure comes at a time when Uber is facing many challenges in the international market. But he will remain Uber's "senior advisor to the board of directors" until August. Macron accepted McGann's offer of help and introduced him to the principals of a still-secret project to create La République en Marche! McGann, who just weeks ago was a paid lobbyist for a controversial and public-stigmatized company, has now become a member of the future president's party.
Uber lobbyist Mark McGann said he joined Macron's party purely out of political conviction
In the following months, McGann threw himself into Macron's campaign. He organized multiple fundraising dinners in Paris and Silicon Valley, inviting entrepreneurs and technology investors in his address book to donate to Macron's campaign, up to the legal limit of 7,500 euros per year. These people may be happy to accept some of the tax measures in Macron's campaign plan, such as abolishing wealth taxes. McGann once said that he joined the Republic Kadima party purely out of political conviction, which was confirmed by a number of newspaper interviews at the time, in which he expressed enthusiasm for the economic and social programs proposed by the future president of the Republic.
"Uber Files", an international investigation
"Uber Files" is an investigation based on internal Uber documents. The documents were sent to the Guardian by an anonymous source, and the Guardian shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and 42 partner media outlets, including France's Le Monde.
These roughly 124,000 documents from 2013 to 2017 reveal how the startup sought to establish itself in central cities around the world despite an unfavorable regulatory environment. They detail how Uber used its lobbying skills in France and elsewhere to try to change the law to its advantage. The
documents also reveal how the California company maintained its current position by operating on established facts and, when necessary, illegally. In addition, documents show that Uber has deliberately exploited legal loopholes and obstructed justice when facing investigations.
The "obfuscated"
"Uber document" within the party does not indicate any irregularities in the financing or organization of Macron's campaign. The omissions between Uber and En Marche!, the precursor to Macron’s Republic March party, are above all ideological: as Macron has said on numerous occasions, his political program is consistent with the model promoted by Uber: a focus on deregulation of protected sectors, labor liberalization and increased flexibility.
But the document also confirmed a certain confusion in Macron’s party at the time: the entanglement of the private and the public, personal commitments and professional interests. A campaign document from "MacronLeaks" shows that Pierre Person, the future Paris city councilor who led the "Youth and Macron" movement (Jeunes avec Macron) at the time, sought "help" from Macron's adviser Stéphane Séjourné in 2015 to support his candidacy for Uber.
Several key figures during Macron’s campaign (2016 to 2017) have also been involved in discussions about Uber recently. Astrid Panosyan, co-founder of the Forward movement and current Paris city councilor, has participated in internal meetings at Uber as an adviser to Macron. Julie Bonamy, an expert in digital technology for the Forward Movement, was involved in secret negotiations between the Minister of Economy and Uber to reduce the training time required to become a VTC driver. In France, traditional taxi drivers compete with Uber and VTC.
Strange Situation
Among the colleagues of the Forward Movement was Fabrice Comptour. He was then chief of staff to EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Industry Elzbieta Bienkowska and was considered by Uber to be one of its best supporters within the European administration. He assured Le Monde that he had never been involved in any discussions within the party about Uber or the sharing economy.
In the documents, we also found Christophe Caresche, a Socialist Party MP who was favored by Uber and a co-leader of the "reformist pole" formed around Manuel Valls (former French Prime Minister), who later became one of Macron's supporters. In February 2016, Karescher organized a meeting with Uber for “reformist” lawmakers.
The mutual penetration between "innovative countries" and Uber is still the focus of media attention : The sister of Jean-Noël Barrot, the newly appointed minister in charge of digital technology on July 4, is Uber's communications director in France and Western Europe. The new minister told the media that he would "delay" dealing with issues related to Uber.
In 2017, Uber’s “closeness” with government officials led to some strange situations. At the time, three months before the first round of the presidential election, McGann put the candidate team in touch with Jim Messina. Messina was Obama 's campaign manager, later founded his own consulting firm, has advised Uber, and is passionate about providing services to the Forward Movement. After negotiating with Ismaël Emelien, one of Macron’s closest advisers, Messina came up with a price tag: $50,000 per month (excluding other fees), and he would provide Macron with his team’s experience in “social networks and campaign organization.” But Emerian rejected the proposal, saying "it was far beyond our budget." The
"Uber document" does not clearly state the reason for the rejection, but just by reading the Messina team's proposal, we can guess the reason why Macron is "not interested" in it. The document is only three pages long, and most of the proposed plans are copy-pasted from Obama’s social network strategy during the 2008 campaign, without any innovation. The proposals proposed by Messina’s team either do not apply to France’s electoral system or are already widely used by the Forward movement.
Compiler: Aling
Article source: [French "Le Monde" article on July 12] Title: "Uber Files": In 2017, the close ideological connection between Uber and Macron's presidential campaign
Original address: « Uber Files » : en 2017, une forte proximité idéologique entre Uber et la campagne presidentielle d’Emmanuel Macron (lemonde.fr)
