These “missing letters” that hinder the transparency of the government

The report that overtook the residential care facility for the dependent elderly (Ehpad) in Ney-sur-Seine years before the Orpea scandal, the data that revealed the extent of inequality between schools, Ana Hidalgo’s professional expense reports… these revelations to the press and many others were made possible by the existence of laws that forced public Institutions were transparent. But the exercise of this right is fragile: in France, as in Europe, governments and administrations sometimes compete with the ingenuity to prevent the right to transfer public documents.

This observation, shared by many investigative journalists, is the origin of the Lost Mail project. Ten media from seven European countries, including the worldGerman newspaper Die WeltDutch site Follow the money or a Belgian daily from TijdGathered to document this blockage.

Secret meetings between Uber and the European Commissioner

On May 3, 2016, former European Digital Commissioner Nellie Cross was hired by Uber. M. sees in this “revolving door” a possible sign of the return of goodwill^I Kroes, the NGO European Corporate Observatory (CEO), is requesting to see the minutes of correspondence and meetings between the Commissioner and the multinational organization during his mandate, as permitted by European regulations on access to administrative documents.

The answer provided by the European Commission seems to dispel all doubts: according to the Institute’s research, Nellie Kroes has not exchanged emails with Uber, and her cabinet has only met once with representatives of the group.

The story would have ended there if a former high-level lobbyist had not leaked a trove of confidential documents on Uber in July 2022. These “Uber files” in particular reveal numerous meetings and correspondence between the platform’s lobbyists and the commissioner’s team, and even a meeting with Neely Crouse himself, who was negotiating to hire him before the end of his mandate, in violation of the rules. power. In 2016, there was no trace in the archives handed over to the Executive Director by the European Commission.

Was this information deliberately withheld by the Brussels Institute or simply deleted from its archives? When questioned, the European Commission refused to answer this question, but believes that this request is addressed in the rules on documents.