“Watergate” at the Élysée Palace: Macron's Office, accused of high -level musk in the water scandal

The well -known French brand of mineral water Perier, owned by Nestlé Waters, is in the center of a scandal that threatens to expand and reach the highest levels of the French government, writes Politico, noting that this scandal can be called a “French Watergate”.

Nestlé Waters has put pressure on the French government, including some people close to French President Emmanuel Macron, to make it possible to sell brand mineral water, even if it bypassed the strict regulations in France, which has effectively induced consumers, according to a report of the Senate to publish this week.

At the center of the accusations is the alleged unauthorized use by Nestlé Waters of carbon filters and ultraviolet light – methods normally used for filtering tap water – to treat mineral water for several of its brands, including its main mineral water, Perier. However, the strict regulations in France aim to guarantee that natural mineral water remains pure and unaltered, justifying the high price paid by consumers.

The anger caused by the alleged lobby scandal threatens to affect President Emmanuel Macron even more politically, while he is struggling with political blockage and low popularity, news.ro.

Asked in February about the role of the Élysée Palace in the case of Nestlé Waters, Macron said that “he is not aware of such things” and that there was no “agreement” or “collusion”.

Nestlé Waters position

At the beginning of 2024, anticipating the publication of an investigation by the French media Le Monde and Radio France, the Swiss company issued a statement that recognized the use of water treatment methods for its mineral water in the past and said that it has aligned the procedures for French mineral water regulations since 2023.

In a written statement sent to Politico, following the Monday report of the French Senate, Nestlé Waters criticized “numerous denigrating statements to the company” which, according to it, were made “in the context of the investigation”.

Also, the company “reiterated its regret for non-compliant treatments used in the past” and has defended its interactions with the “Nestlé Waters confirm that all contacts with public decision-makers have respected the role of each party and the independence of the Government's decision-making process, according to ethical norms,” ​​the company gives.

The use of treatment methods in the past was necessary due to “sporadic bacterial or chemical contamination” caused by “fecal contaminations” in the supply of mineral water, according to a press report from 2024, which quoted “a confidential note” from the French administration. “We confirm that food safety and quality of our natural mineral waters have always been guaranteed,” wrote Nestlé Waters, in a statement at that time.

Nestlé Waters France has informed the Paris government about its water treatment practices since 2021, the company said in its initial statement.

“Transaction” approach

However, according to the conclusions of the French Senate report, Nestlé had a “transactional” approach. The company shared its mistakes with the French government and, in exchange for cessation of carbon filters, it offered to use microfiltration at 0.2 microns.

Until then, the French health authorities had established that any filtration under a threshold of 0.8 microns risk changing the water composition. However, in 2023, the French government allowed the local authorities to weaken the regulatory framework, through an executive action, to allow the finer microfiltration method.

The report of the Senate is the result of a parliamentary investigation of the socialist senator Alexandre Ouizille on the practices of the French water industry.

The investigation of Ouizille, who followed the publication of last year's press investigations, also tried to determine to what extent Macron's office could have been aware of Nestlé Waters.

“The presidency knew that Nestlé has been cheating for years”

Ouizille and the commission of inquiry convened Macron's former cabinet chief, Alexis Kohler-who held this position from 2017 to last month and was often described as “the second brain of the president”-to testify, but Kohler refused to appear, invoking the separation between the executive power.

However, the French president's office shared 74 pages of documents that present discussions between members of the President and Nestlé staff and the company lobbists.

“The decision to authorize the microfiltration below the threshold of 0.8 microns was taken at the highest level of the government,” the report published by the Senate shows. “The presidency knew, at least from 2022, that Nestlé has been cheating for years,” says the report.

On Monday, during a press conference, Senator Ouizille insisted that Kohler met “several times” with Lobbists Nestlé and stated that “at least, (the palace) Elysée was aware of what was happening.”