Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1473070
15 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 JULY 2022 EUROPE These articles are part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. These articles reflect only the authors' view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. Uber Files: MEPs must investigate anti-worker EU lobbying TRADE unions are calling for the European Parliament to in- vestigate Uber's anti-worker lobbying of the EU following the Uber Files leak, which comes amid the company's efforts to weaken a directive on platform working conditions. The documents reveal that Uber have held 12 meetings with the European Commission which were not previously disclosed and that a former European Commis- sion vice-president with respon- sibility for digital policy, Neelie Kroes, secretly lobbied on Uber's behalf. Uber's EU lobbying operation has become even bigger since the period covered by the leaks, with a 16 times increase in lobbying spending by the company since it arrived in Brussels: 2013: 50,000€ 2014: 50,000€ - 99,999 2015: 400,000€ - 499,999 2016: 700,000€ - 799,999 2017: 800,000€ - 899,999 2018: 800,000€ - 899,999 2019: 800,000€ - 899,999 2020: 700,000€ - 799,999 Uber has itself held 70 publicly recorded meetings with the Eu- ropean Commission since 2015, but is also paying up to €199,000 a year for outside lobbying assis- tance from Acumen Public Af- fairs, which has 38 lobbyists with accreditation to the European Parliament. This leak shows "Uber with the help of an advisory firm com- piled lists of more than 1,850 'stakeholders,' sitting and former public officials, think tanks and citizens groups, it intended to influence in 29 countries as well as European Union institutions", according to the ICIJ team be- hind the Uber Files. In an clear conflict of interest which reveals Uber's ongoing influence on the EU institutions, Uber's EU Policy Director, Zuza- na Púčiková, holds a role as one of the European Commission's climate ambassadors. Directive on platform working conditions The Uber Files come as the Eu- ropean Parliament and European Council consider the draft direc- tive on improving working con- ditions in platform work. Uber and other platforms are lobbying conservative and liberal ministers as well as MEPs to water down the draft directive. The ETUC wrote to the French Labour Minister in June to call on the French Presidency of the EU to deliver a strong directive. The unwillingness of the French Pres- idency to make progress on the file are placed in context by the details in the Uber Files about the company's connections with the French president. Amendments to the directive proposed by Renew and EPP MEPs also echo exactly the de- mands made by Move EU, a plat- form lobby of which Uber is a member. A strong directive, including a real presumption of employ- ment, is needed to finally deliver fair pay and working conditions for millions of drivers, couriers, carers and other workers being exploited by platforms. Commenting on the Uber Files, ETUC Confederal Secretary Lu- dovic Voet said: "This explosive leak comes as Uber are lobbying hard to try and water down EU legislation on the rights of platform workers. De- tails of secret dealings between Uber and EU policymakers will understandably damage the con- fidence of workers in the legisla- tive process. "That's why European Parlia- ment president Roberta Metsola must urgently initiate an investi- gation into Uber's lobbying of the EU and suspend the accredita- tion of Uber's EU lobbyists until its conclusion. "The leak shows exactly what kind of company Uber really are, with its lobbyists willing to go to any length to rewrite the rules in their favour and simply ignore them when they can't. Uber say they have changed but Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, who is at the centre of this scandal, is still the head of Uber Eats which is lobbying against EU action on workers' rights. "If Uber want to show they've changed, they should stop lob- bying against their own workers' right to fair pay and conditions and engage in collective bargain- ing with trade unions across Eu- rope." "This explosive leak comes as Uber are lobbying hard to try and water down EU legislation on the rights of platform workers. Details of secret dealings between Uber and EU policymakers will understandably damage the confidence of workers in the legislative process." Neelie Kroes (VVD) was a European Commissioner in Brussels from 2004 to 2014. In 2015 and 2016, she lobbied for Uber in The Hague to amend the Dutch taxi law