Uber Files: French Parliamentary commission says government failed to enforce laws

A year after Le Monde and its partners revealed Uber's lobbying, French lawmakers criticized the government's weak stance and Emmanuel Macron's lack of action in a report published Tuesday.

How did a company with such contempt for the law benefit from so much goodwill? This question appears repeatedly in the 500-page report by the National Assembly commission of inquiry into the "Uber files". The document, published on Tuesday, July 18, is the result of six months of work in which members of parliament interviewed up to 120 people. The document points to numerous shortcomings in how public authorities have responded to the growth of Uber and other similar companies in France.

This investigation began in July of last year with a series of articles published by Le Monde and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) partners, focusing on the activities of the transport company in France and beyond. At the same time, the investigation was based on numerous internal documents sent to the United Kingdom's "The Guardian" newspaper by Mark McGann, Uber's chief European lobbyist, in 2014-2016. Information from the investigation reveals how the company willfully evaded regulations to carve out a niche for itself against taxis and their influence strategy, particularly in France, where it had a close relationship with President Emmanuel Macron when he was economy minister.

Daniel Simonnet, deputy of the radical left party "La France Insoumise" (LFI) and the main founder of the commission, gave more space to this information in his report. It used the same documents, but also relied on hearings from some of the key actors in the case, excluding former members of Macron's cabinet, and more recent evidence.

Non-organized control mechanisms

Former Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who were in office at the time of the Uber files, told the commission that the government had taken a firm stance when confronted with the company's "suspicious actions." But they failed to convince the MPs, who concluded that the government had "failed to implement the laws". They note that from early 2014 to July 2015, Uber operated the UberPop private driver service in France, when it was clearly illegal. They also found that two laws —Thevenoud (2014) and Grandguillaume (2016)—passed in response to company violations during the mandate of former French president Francois Hollande, are still partially evasive.

According to the report, this error lies in the neglected and often fruitless procedures. Jérôme Fournel, a senior official of the Ministry of Finance, said that cooperation with the Dutch tax authorities was not carried out and bureaucratic procedures limited the slow-moving process. The report also mentions an investigation by URSSAF (a network of private organizations responsible for the collection of social security contributions) that was canceled in court due to a lack of formality, and the organization did not consider it appropriate to restart the legal process.

The report also noted that Nathalie Homobono, the head of the Ministry of Finance's competition body in 2009-2018, admitted that after the "Uber files" issue was revealed, she studied the control mechanisms of the company and the tactics of shadowing the activities of the justice system.

The Commission concludes that there is a "clear lack of resources" and a "lack of political will" to go through lengthy and complex procedures. Simonnet told Le Monde newspaper that the reckoning is quick for these companies because the penalties are insignificant compared to the profits: "Our institutions and political authorities do not provide the means to ensure the rule of law."

Simonnet criticized Macron's failure to take any action against Uber. As economy minister, he struck a deal with the company to reduce the hours of training required to drive rental cars. This was assessed in the report as a "big manipulative operation". On the other hand, Deputy Benjamin Haddad, chairman of the investigative commission and a member of Macron's Renaissance Party, defended the President's decisions.

Rhetoric of "Uber" company

Simonnet said that after Macron's election as president in 2017, the government accepted Uber's ideas more widely: "The government's concern was to adapt the rules of French law to the situation that the company is applying." After the company's founder Travis Kalanick implemented a strategy of chaos, his successor Dara Khosrowshahi proposed a "win-win" deal to the French authorities. The company now claims it has taken measures to improve working conditions for drivers and expects governments not to impose new restrictive regulations in return. As Khosrovshahi said in 2021, this is a "better deal".

As proof of the agreement between the Uber company and the French government, the deputy of the left-wing La France Insoumise party pointed to France's position in the ongoing negotiations on the status of drivers in Brussels. Official Paris put forward a "presumption of independence" for Uber drivers and others. At the same time, the European Parliament is defending a "presumption of employment" that would force companies to prove that their drivers are truly independent in the event of litigation. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne, who attended the hearing as a former transport minister, echoed the company's rhetoric, saying the drivers said they wanted to be independent rather than employed.

Not surprisingly, Simonnet included the application of the presumption of employment at the beginning of his recommendations in his report. He also calls for the establishment of an accreditation system issued by an independent body and provided that the company complies with all relevant regulations.

He also offers numerous ways to better control lobbying. He added that the meetings between lobbyists, MPs or ministers should be made public, as well as the meetings between Macron and Uber officials, which were kept secret until the "Uber files" were released.