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Ikea vows to stop spying on French workers

Swedish furniture giant Ikea has admitted to ethical breaches after it was accused of illegally accessing secret police files in France as part of its efforts to screen potential employees.

Ikea vows to stop spying on French workers

The flat-pack furniture firm has also been accused of spying on irate customers.

Without referring to specific cases, the company pledged on Friday to clean up its act.

”Ikea totally condemns the practices brought to light which contravene its must fundamental principles, especially the right to privacy,” news agency Reuters quoted Ikea as saying in a statement.

“These practices go against the ethics of Ikea which call for its activities to be conducted in an upright and honest manner.”

Weekly French newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné reported at the end of February that the company used French security companies to gain access to documents held in the STIC system.

STIC (Système de traitement des infractions constatées) is a centralized records system which groups together data from police investigations, including both suspected criminals and their victims.

Accessing the documents without authorization is an offence.

“The allegations have come to our knowledge and we look very seriously upon it. We have started an internal investigation to find out if there is any truth to it,” Ikea’s Sweden-based spokesperson Ylva Magnusson told The Local at the time.

A series of internal emails published by Le Canard Enchaîné allege that, starting in 2003, the head of security at Ikea’s French operation regularly asked for checks on employees and clients.

Questions were asked about more than 200 people, including requests for criminal records, vehicle registration checks and affiliations with political organizations.

In one email reported by the newspaper, the head of risk management at Ikea asked whether a client involved in a dispute with the store was “known to police” and asked for a check on her address.

Another email reportedly requested information on someone who was thought to have made “anti-globalization remarks” and could even be an “eco-terrorist risk.

In mid-March, French police searched the headquarters of the company in France and the home of the employee responsible for Ikea’s risk management policy, following fresh allegations that the company had carried out illegal surveillance on dissatisfied customers.

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POLITICS

France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

France has vowed to prevent a trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc from being signed with its current terms, as the country is rocked by farmer protests.

France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

The trade deal, which would include agricultural powers Argentina and Brazil, is among a litany of complaints by farmers in France and elsewhere in Europe who have been blocking roads to demand better conditions for their sector.

They fear it would further depress their produce prices amid increased competition from exporting nations that are not bound by strict and costly EU environmental laws.

READ ALSO Should I cancel my trip to France because of farmers’ protests?

“This Mercosur deal, as it stands, is not good for our farmers. It cannot be signed as is, it won’t be signed as is,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told broadcasters CNews and Europe 1.

The European Commission acknowledged on Tuesday that the conditions to conclude the deal with Mercosur, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay, “are not quite there yet”.

The talks, however, are continuing, the commission said.

READ ALSO 5 minutes to understand French farmer protests

President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that France opposes the deal because it “doesn’t make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours”.

The EU and the South American nations have been negotiating since 2000.

The contours of a deal were agreed in 2019, but a final version still needs to be ratified.

The accord aims to cut import tariffs on – mostly European – industrial and pharmaceutical goods, and on agricultural products.

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