InvestigationFor his first campaign, in 2016-2017, Emmanuel Macron received the support of many defenders of the model promoted by the start-up, including from his former chief lobbyist in Europe.
Mark MacGann got to know Emmanuel Macron well. For two years, Uber’s chief lobbyist in Europe has multiplied meetings, calls and SMS exchanges with the Minister of the Economy. Despite some disappointments, he remained on his first impression: Emmanuel Macron is a talented, charismatic man, who is trying to move France in the right direction. At the beginning of 2016, on the sidelines of the Davos forum, he sent him a message to ask him if he needed help to launch his presidential campaign – the rumor of a candidacy is omnipresent, even if Emmanuel Macron will only officially declare himself. ‘in November.
When he offers Emmanuel Macron to help him with his campaign, Mark MacGann is no longer a full-time employee of Uber. He left the company, under conditions that would later become contentious, due to disagreements over the financial terms of his departure. But he remains “Senior Board Advisor” from Uber, until August. Despite this possible conflict of interest, Emmanuel Macron accepts the offer of services, and redirects Mr. MacGann to the main people responsible for the still confidential project to create La République en Marche. The one who was still, a few weeks earlier, the paid lobbyist of a controversial company and installed in the heart of the news, thus becomes an activist of the future presidential party.
Mark MacGann, the Uber lobbyist, says he joined the Macronist party out of pure political conviction
During the following months, Mr. MacGann will participate in the campaign of Emmanuel Macron, in particular by organizing dinners intended to raise funds, in Paris as in Silicon Valley. The guests of these meetings, entrepreneurs and tech investors who appear in his address book, are encouraged to contribute to Mr. Macron’s campaign up to the legal ceiling, 7,500 euros per year – and can be receptive to certain fiscal measures of Emmanuel Macron’s program, such as the abolition of the ISF. Mr. MacGann says he joined the party out of pure political conviction, which is confirmed by several exchanges from the time that The world was able to consult, in which he details his enthusiasm for the economic and societal program of the future President of the Republic.
“Uber Files”, an international investigation
“UberFiles” is an investigation based on thousands of internal Uber documents sent by an anonymous source to the British daily The Guardianand forwarded to International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 42 media partners, including The world.
Emails, presentations, meeting minutes… These 124,000 documents, dated from 2013 to 2017, offer a rare dive into the mysteries of a start-up which was then seeking to establish itself in cities around the world despite a regulatory context. unfavorable. They detail how Uber has used, in France as elsewhere, all the tricks of lobbying to try to change the law to its advantage.
The “Uber Files” also reveal how the Californian group, determined to impose itself by a fait accompli and, if necessary, by operating illegally, has implemented practices deliberately playing with the limits of the law, or which may amount to judicial obstruction of the investigations of which he was the subject.
Mix of genres
The “Uber Files” documents do not suggest the existence of any irregularities in the financing or organization of Emmanuel Macron’s campaign. Between Uber and En Marche!, the porosity is above all ideological: as Emmanuel Macron has said on many occasions, his political project is very compatible with the model proposed by the company, combining deregulation of protected sectors, liberalization of wage labor and increased flexibility.
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