Emmanuel Macron aided Uber lobbying drive in France, leak reveals | Hacker News Reader

Emmanuel Macron aided Uber lobbying drive in France, leak reveals

theguardian.com

86 pointsnnx21 comments

> regulatory regime that included up to 300 hours of obligatory training

> quota of taxi licences that in some cities changed hands for up to €250,000

> Macron... embrace the new digital economy and shake up France’s rigid labour market in an effort to reverse rising unemployment

Clearly, the situation was not good. If you have to pay Eu.250000 for a taxi license, that points to corruption and a cabal controlling supply artificially. While it can be argued that Uber needs to provide drivers more benefits, that was not what these protests were about. This was mostly about protecting cabals.

It's like this in Germany. The taxi companies essentially formed a cartel and its illegal to compete with them on price - they all charge exactly the same. This is why a taxi ride from Munich airport to the center is 120€.

And in lots of other places. London tried to ban Uber due to pressure from Black Cab drivers but the push back from the public was massive; everyone was sick of Black Cab drivers either refusing to drive you because your location was inconvenient, or not accepting card payments, and generally being really expensive.

Uber was great in its early days, presumably because trips were being subsidised, but I hardly use it now. The regular taxi companies seem to have got their act together and there's little difference, they can even be more reliable for things like booking an early morning trip to an airport. I still only use Black Cabs as a last resort though.

I used an Uber for exactly that trip in 2019 and it was only €56, at 17:30 (which I would consider prime time).

Just putting this number out there to put the €120 into context.

I wonder what a Uber charges in 2022, now that they raised prices to try to balance the books.

You dont have to wonder, I just checked and it's 67€ right now while the taxi is still 120€.

>While the files show Uber executives identified Macron as an ally, they marked Valls down early on as a “strong-minded” opponent, privately denouncing him as “enemy #1” and plotting demonstrations against him – including the surreal suggestion from one senior executive of “lots of drivers with Valls mask on and a guillotine”. Uber discussed – and often tried – everything from “civil disobedience” to social media campaigns and relentless court challenges.

Uber is kind of starting to sound like a terrorist organization

Yeah, no. Uber/Kalanick are coming across heroic here. Forces like theirs have driven all progress in human history. Nice guys finish last and accomplish nothing.

I honestly can’t tell if this is supposed to be sarcastic.

Intentionally hyperbolic but not sarcastic.

paying people less with fewer benefits is not progress.

“They are without bread? Let them eat cake!”

Under Uber, drivers make more money, customers get better service. Middlemen lose. It gets easier for new drivers to find work, under flexible working arrangments. Leftists should be cheering this.

I wonder if jackass CEOs attract jackass employees, or if the employees' jackass sides come out inside organizations where they think "It's safe to be one". If we believe the reports of racism and sexism in Tesla, as well as the horrible culture in Amazon and now, Uber...

Anyone who dealt with French taxi services should be life-long Macron supporter now.

If this is true, why hasn't he made it public long before now that he was essentially lobbying within government in support of Uber's illegal operations?

As a French, I've taken French taxi maybe like 20 times in my life (Paris & Rennes), and never had any issue with them (granted it was largely post-Uber, so maybe they improved because of it). I took ubers few times, it didn't feel any better than taxis.

My french colleague's former father in law is a cab driver in Paris. What an arrogant aggressive jerk from all the stories I've heard.

Didn't mind literally throwing client out of the car in the middle of the highway because he didn't like something he said about politics. Frequently blocking highway exits with his taxi due to some protests or other, burning tires on roads (which damages them apart of other issues with this).

But yes he paid for taxi bouillon more than 200k euro, they are 3 who split it among themselves. So one can expect that folks in such a position will do literally anything to defend their status, legal or illegal.

This is my favourite taxi in France:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0152930/

To be put in perspective with a whole series of measures not assumed and led for nearly 20 years by Macron and his peers before, to plunder France sector by sector.

If it was only the cabs, nobody would care for more than a week, but we are a lot to hope one day to push these people to justice for the state of the country.

Macron in particular has lied and sold a lot of our jewels, accepted a lot of deals against the interests of France, and his teams are beginning to resemble those of the Mafia if we compare the number of criminal prosecutions since his first term.

But I think unfortunately that these things are generational, we will have to wait at least until 60% of Gen X is gone and some changes in Gen Y mentality.

The files apparently have all it takes to mount a FCPA lawsuit, especially on the Neelie Kroes case, I wonder if this administration will do it, or if they'll let it slide.

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