There is sufficient support for the demand for a commission of inquiry in the Brussels Parliament about the multinational rideshare platform Uber after the UberFiles revelations earlier this week.
After the Francophone socialist and green parties, PS and Ecolo, and the Dutch-speaking left-wing PVDA party asked for a commission of inquiry on Monday, the Flemish greens Groen, Flemish rightwing N-VA, Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang and Flemish Christian-democrats CD&V also joined the request on Tuesday – meaning that more than 50 of the 89 members are in favour of the commission.
On Tuesday, the leaked UberFiles – De Tijd, Knack and Le Soir worked on the case in Belgium – showed that current Brussels State Secretary Pascal Smet, who was Mobility Minister in the previous legislature, was a key figure for Uber to break open the Brussels taxi market.
Only the socialist one.brussels-Vooruit party, of which Smet is a member, considers such a commission of inquiry unnecessary.
'No issues with personal relationship'
Even before the 2014 elections, when Smet was still a Flemish minister, he and his cabinet had contact with Uber lobbyists, reports De Tijd. According to leaked emails, he promised not to oppose Uber if the company adhered to certain conditions. When Smet became Minister of Mobility, he was in a crucial position for the multinational.
Additionally, Smet seemingly was a long-standing friend of Uber's main European lobbyist Mark MacGann. Communications between the two show that Smet told MacGann that while he was an Uber ally, he had to make public statements to reassure the taxi industry.
Contacted by De Tijd, Smet said that he sees no issues with his personal relationship with Uber's most important lobbyist when he launched the Brussels taxi plan in 2015 that would make it the first place legalise Uber in Europe.
"I have been very clear to him in every conversation: Uber only has a future in Brussels in a framework determined by the government, with respect for the driver's status, transparency for the client and data transmission to the government," Smet told the newspaper.
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The fact that his cabinet informed Uber about his Taxi Plan before it was made public is not unusual, according to Smet. "There were also many meetings with the taxi sector outside the public forum. This was necessary because the debate was very polarised at the time."
In the Brussels Parliament, however, group leader of Groen Arnaud Verstraete showed his support for a commission of inquiry, stating that there were far-reaching attempts to influence policy-making across Europe. "An in-depth investigation and full transparency are needed to draw the necessary lessons from this."
N-VA group leader Cieltje Van Achter called it "worrying" to learn from the leaked Uber documents that the previous Mobility Minister had "very close ties with a lobbyist for a company in a sector for which he was developing a reform."
In recent years, the ties between Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort and the taxi lobby also regularly made headlines in the Capital Region, she stressed. "The reality is that the reform of the taxi sector has dragged on unnecessarily for eight years."
Commission of inquiry is 'not useful'
According to her, a commission of inquiry can provide a definitive answer about how "kosher" Minister Smet and Minister-President Vervoort, as well as their cabinets, have acted.
The only party not in favour of the commission of inquiry is one.brussels-Vooruit. "We do not think that is useful. Smet can also simply answer questions that are put to him in parliament," MP Els Rochette said in a response to Bruzz.
"If you want to develop a policy, it is normal that there are contacts with those involved and that you listen to all partners," she added. "Knowing Smet, I do not believe mistakes happened. He is always very professional. As politicians, we all have informal contacts."
On Friday, a debate about the revelations of the UberFiles is planned in the plenary session of the Brussels Parliament, where Smet is expected to be questioned.
