How Neelie Kroes lobbied Prime Minister Rutte for a meeting with Uber CEO despite a ban | Politics

Neelie Kroes was European Commissioner (Competition and Digital Agenda) for two periods between 2004 and 2014. After that period, Kroes asked permission in Brussels to work for Uber. This was also rejected by the then President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. European Commissioners are not allowed to lobby for ‘matters that belonged to their portfolio’ for the first year and a half after their departure.

Investigative journalists – including from Fidelity and the Financial Daily – revealed last summer that Kroes nevertheless secretly lobbied for the American platform company in 2015 and 2016 to gain a foothold in Europe. For example, she would have tried to influence the policy for the taxi market in favor of Uber. It also turned out that she had already contacted Dutch ministers in 2015 to advocate for Uber, which was then fined heavily by the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) for violating the taxi rules.

Several MPs have written questions to the cabinet about this. Today’s answer also includes a package of documents that have been published with an appeal to the Government Information (Public Access) Act (wob).

The documents show that Kroes sent Prime Minister Rutte an app in the summer of 2015 requesting a meeting between him and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. She writes that she had a “fascinating encounter” with Kalanick in San Francisco. ‘Could be my grandson. He reminds me of Steve Jobs when I visited his house. You must meet him. Ned has opportunities. (…) Travis could fly in next week.”

After Kroes’ request, a Rutte official warns internally that Uber is currently involved in lawsuits with the ILT in the Netherlands. According to the official, it was therefore not wise for Rutte to meet Kalanick in the Torentje. “That raises expectations and – if the media finds out – can give the impression that special agreements are being made between NL and Uber.”

The official therefore advises against a short-term interview. A meeting abroad would be one of the possibilities. The location is Davos, where the World Economic Forum is held annually. This was also recommended by the official a year earlier.

Kroes, who according to the official can be ‘quite pushy’, then receives a response formulated by Rutte’s official. According to Rutte, that answer must be ‘enthusiastic and appropriate in tone’. “It is unbelievable at what pace that company has grown – and to what extent it will turn the taxi world (and probably other markets) upside down,” Rutte responds to Kroes.

As long as Uber is involved in legal proceedings, the outside world could interpret such a visit as an attempt by Uber to make a deal through me or to bypass the ministers involved. I want to avoid that impression.’

A few months later, an appointment is still made for a meeting between Rutte and Kalanick. The two met in early February 2016, in the presence of Kroes, during a working visit by the Prime Minister to San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

Rutte is happy that Kalanick is coming to a meeting of StartupDelta in the Netherlands. Kroes is an envoy of this organization on behalf of the cabinet, which was set up to help young entrepreneurs find investors and to attract foreign start-ups that could grow into companies with international allure.

“What do you advise me to do to adjust the policy in the Netherlands,” Kalanick asks a Rutte. The Prime Minister replies: “Speak to Mrs Dijksma, a very good Secretary of State.”

Kroes previously denied having violated the integrity rules. According to her, she was doing all of her work as a StartupDelta envoy and had “neither a formal nor an informal role at Uber” before May 2016.