As soon as the Uber Files were released at the beginning of the week, the investigation of the World on the links between Emmanuel Macron and the American VTC company when he was in Bercy, a hidden camera showing a lunch at Laurent, a Parisian luxury restaurant, reappeared on social networks. In a tweet shared nearly 2,000 times, the Le Discord Insoumis account explains that it has found the video “of the lunch between Uber lobbyists, deputies and members of the Macron cabinet”. And concludes: “Now is the time to find out who is at the table. »
This hidden camera was mentioned in another sequence that has gone viral: that of a tough exchange between Sayah Baaroun, secretary general of the union of private drivers VTC (touring vehicles with driver), and Emmanuel Macron, which took place in 2017 in the political program on France 2.
At the time, Sayah Baaroun explained that he saw “Emmanuel Macron’s chief of staff in a luxury restaurant” (it is in fact a member of Emmanuel Macron’s cabinet, as related Street 89 in 2016), with deputies, senators. They have lunch “with the VTC ecosystem, the vehicle rental companies”, he denounces, adding that Emmanuel Macron was “fighting against the law” Grandguillaume.
“Serious accusations”, asserts on the set the ex-Minister of the Economy and presidential candidate, who indicates that names are needed, the list to go “before the judge”. “I have never defended the interests of one or the other, he pleads again. I’m just saying that I will defend the jobs that we have created. »
FAKE OFF
The video in the restaurant is the one shot with a hidden camera by Sayah Baaroun, as he confirms to 20 minutes. The sequence actually lasts 3 min and is still visible on YouTube, its images overlapping with the extract shared on Twitter. However, according to several concordant sources, representatives of Uber were not present during this lunch.
On June 28, 2016, at the Laurent, a luxury restaurant near the Champs-Elysées, the CEOs of SnapCar, AlloCab, Chauffeur-Privé, MarcelCab and LeCab invited four deputies, a senator and a member of the ministerial cabinet to lunch. Emmanuel Macron, tells Street89.
But only French companies were present. “From memory, there was no Uber,” says Sayah Baaroun. In June 2016, the Grandguillaume law, named after a socialist deputy, was in the drawers and worried VTC companies. “They were trying to unravel it,” continues the trade unionist. We wanted to set up more qualifying and serious training. »
“It is an event of total banality”
The law, which will be adopted in December 2016, aimed in particular to put an end to the misappropriation of the so-called LOTI status, designed for public transport. Drivers becoming VTC had to have their professional experience recognized (by justifying 1,600 hours of activity) or pass an exam for access to the profession of VTC.
VTC reservation platforms, whether French or American like Uber, lobbied against this law. Lobbying assumed by Yves Weisselberger, CEO of SnapCar, which has since become LeCab: “Parliamentary lunches, I do, does he defend himself with 20 minutes. We are going to explain our point of view to deputies, senators, ministerial advisers. It is an event of total banality. ” HAS Street89he explained that he was going to “fight with all (his) strength so that the law does not pass”, because “tens of thousands of jobs [risquaient] to jump “.
“There was no Uber”
On the presence of Uber at the 2016 lunch, it is formal: the American company had no representative. “There was no Uber,” he says. In 2016, we synchronized very little. With the French platforms, we defended positions different from theirs, which were more radical and very aggressive vis-à-vis the public authorities. “Contacted, the press service of Uber did not answer us.
Christophe Caresche, then PS deputy, also recognizes without “any problem” his presence at this lunch. He also claims that Uber was not part of the table on June 28, 2016 and specifies that he also met G7 taxis at the time. In his investigation, The world details the commitments of the one he presents as “an Uber sales representative”: he relayed the company’s amendments to the National Assembly, organized a meeting between Uber and parliamentarians and would have raised requests with members of the government, which the person concerned denies. Today, the former deputy still defends Uber’s balance sheet, believing that “taxis have made very big progress” and that, therefore, Uber will have been “useful” in France.