The Uber Files, revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), of which Radio France’s investigation unit is a part, have revealed the relationship between the VTC giant Uber and Emmanuel Macron. The survey highlights in particular the extent of the lobbying put in place by Uber to conquer the world. Gradually, the company has woven a powerful network, including Emmanuel Macron when he was Minister of the Economy in 2014.
>> Uber Files: how Emmanuel Macron got involved when the VTC giant arrived in France
Two days after the revelations, Tuesday July 12, Emmanuel Macron “felicitated” of his work with Uber, during a trip to Isère. “We have created thousands of jobs”, said the head of state. He rocks have been “a Minister of the Economy who fought to attract companies”.
Are the lobbies controlled?
Yes, especially since the Sapin II law, which came into force in September 2017. It requires all lobbyists to register with the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP). Each year, they must list their lobbying activities.
For example, the company Uber declared itself to the High Authority at the end of 2017, after the entry into force of the law. On his page, which is easily found on the authority’s website, everything is public. There is a list of all the debates, the subjects on which Uber claims to have intervened. Meetings with the cabinet of President Emmanuel Macron, with deputies, senators and the Ministry of Transport. In total, more than 3 million euros spent on lobbying. But all this only since 2017 and the entry into force of the law.
Before this date, and in particular the period of the Uber Files, when Emmanuel Macron was at the Ministry of the Economy, no information on the site of the High Authority since the Uber company is not obliged to declare it.
Has this 2017 law really changed the situation?
From a judicial point of view, as long as lobbying activities are declared at the end of each year, the law is respected. Even with this law, Uber would not have been legally pinned down. Otherwise, without an annual declaration, the penalty incurred can be up to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros.
If we look at the results of the High Authority, we can think that companies are playing the game. Today, 2,400 lobbies have declared themselves and more than 50,000 lobbying actions have been recorded.
What must be declared?
This is one of the problems: there is no obligation to indicate the nature of the lobbying. Meals, coffees? Or amendments, ready-to-use bills sent to deputies, senators? It is impossible to know what exactly each lobbyist does. Another unknown, the lobbyists declare that they meet senators, deputies, members of the government, but do not say who exactly. They should not specify the identity of the person, only his function, his mandate. The HATVP itself points to a lack of transparency in a report published in 2021.
When it is the politicians who solicit the lobbies, who seek their advice, there is no obligation to declare to the High Authority.
The NGO Transparency France, for example, asks that members of the government, deputies and senators who chair parliamentary committees, presidents of parliamentary groups, publish their precise agenda, all the meetings they have with lobbyists. It also alerts on the means of the High Authority to control all lobbying activities. They are about twenty employees, for thousands of actions declared by lobbies.