In a Dickensian twist to the holiday season, Brussels’ Mayor Yvan Mayeur has pressured a charity to pull out of a partnership with Uber to deliver Christmas donations for the needy.
Ride-hailing service Uber emailed its Brussels users December 9, asking them to donate coffee, milk, canned food and personal hygiene goods to charity Restos du Coeur. Those who wanted to participate could summon Uber drivers to pick up goods.
By the next day, the charity had pulled out of the deal.
The change of heart resulted from the intervention of Mayeur, Socialist mayor of the city of Brussels, the largest of the 19 municipalities in the Brussels-capital region.
Mayeur’s office raised objections to Restos du Coeur’s partnership with Uber, and the charity subsequently severed the relationship.
Restos du Coeur, a registered non-profit organization, and Mayeur could not be reached for comment. But the mayor confirmed his office was responsible to Belgian publication L’Echo.
“It’s quite true,” Mayeur said. “It is wrong to try to have a facade of respectability by pretending to help the most needy while on the other hand, proposing a model of ultra-liberalism.”
“This sort of intervention is shocking,” said Mark MacGann, Uber’s European head of public policy. “Pascal Smet [the Brussels minister for mobility and public works] has confirmed Uber is a legal service. I am really astonished.”
The Uber donation drive ultimately went ahead on December 12 after the Saint-Gilles neighborhood branch of Restos opted to remain involved.
Belgium has a mixed history with Uber. While the Brussels government announced it would reform its taxi rules and legalize Uber earlier this year, efforts have stalled and there is no indication of when changes could be introduced. A Belgian court banned Uber’s low-cost service Pop in September, though the more expensive UberX service, which uses licensed professional drivers, was allowed to continue operating.
Quentin Ariès contributed to this article.
This article was first published on POLITICO Pro.