Macron: I wouldn’t change anything in relations with Uber

PARIS, July 12 (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he would not change the approach he took to U.S. ride-hailing company Uber Technologies when he was minister of Economy, after political opponents said they would seek a seat in Parliament. investigation.

“I would do it again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow (…) we have created thousands of jobs (…), I am very proud,” Macron told reporters while visiting a factory in the Alps. French companies where STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries (GFS.O) will build a new semiconductor factory.

The Guardian and Le Monde newspapers reported on Sunday that Uber (UBER.N) broke laws and secretly lobbied politicians in an aggressive campaign to expand into new markets from 2013 to 2017.

Macron’s office told Le Monde that as economy minister at the time, he had frequent contact with many companies disrupting the service sector, and that red tape should be eased. .

The new left-wing opposition Nupes alliance, led by the anti-capitalist France Insoumise (France Insoumise) party, said it would seek a parliamentary inquiry into Macron’s role in aiding the California business in France.

Olivia Gregoire, minister for small and medium-sized enterprises, told parliament that Macron had simply “done his job” when he was economy minister.

“He spoke with Uber. But also with Netflix (NFLX.O), with AirBnB, Tesla (…) And why? Because these businesses are at the heart of today’s economy,” said Gregoire.

The Guardian reported that while other members of the socialist government at the time had doubts about Uber’s push into taxi territory, Macron exchanged text messages with Uber executives, who told him identified as a key ally behind the scenes.

In response to reports from The Guardian and Le Monde, Uber said in a statement: “We have not and will not find excuses for past behavior that is demonstrably inconsistent with our current values.”

Report by Sophie Louet and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Mark Heinrich

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