GETTY Jean-Claude Juncker has been accused of interfering in a French legal case

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The Brussels chief has reportedly moved to ensure a hearing pitting Uber against the French government is postponed over fears victory for the taxi firm would provide the Front National leader with more anti-globalist rhetoric. He is said to have overruled other senior bureaucrats to put a halt to the case in a move which demonstrates the panic gripping the euro elite over the prospect of a Le Pen presidency.

Uber has appealed to the EU Commission in a bid to get key aspects of French employment law, which it says unfairly impact on its operations, overturned by Brussels. But Mr Juncker is said to fear that taking the government in Paris to court over the issue before next March’s presidential election would play into the hands of Ms Le Pen, who is standing on a eurosceptic platform.

GETTY The EU Commission chief apparently fears a ruling in favour of Uber could boost Le Pen's chances

GETTY Uber wants to get elements of French employment law overturned

As a result, the case was mysteriously left off his Commission’s monthly list of legal actions against member states, even though senior eurocrats have admitted there is no reason for the case not to go ahead immediately. According to Politico, Mr Juncker has overruled at least four other Commissioners who wanted to press ahead with the action, and has instead buried the report deep in his workload so that it will not emerge until after the new French president has been chosen. A top source said the Commission has not rejected Uber’s complaint, but said that Mr Juncker’s is employing “the black box technique, where something goes into the president’s cabinet and it disappears”. And during a meeting with lobbyists from Uber on November 8 the EU chief’s right-hand man, Martin Selmayr, reportedly confirmed eurocrats would take no action on the case for an indefinite amount of time.

The move represents the growing concern over the rise of populist parties across Europe, with Brussels insiders now fearful that Ms Le Pen could follow in the footsteps of Brexit and Donald Trump and pull off an unlikely victory. Opinion polls show the right-wing leader will get through to the final round of next March’s election but will be beaten by a conservative rival after liberal voters rally to lock the FN out of power. However, such surveys have been woefully inaccurate in recent months and pollsters admit that they have significantly underestimated the levels of unspoken support for radical candidates. A spokesman for the EU Commission refused to comment on suggestions that Mr Juncker was delaying the case, insisting the body “decides on infringements cases based on their merits and legal complexity, not for political reasons.” He added: “There are no deadlines for assessing complaints. Obviously we try to handle complaints as fast as possible.”

Things you didn't know about Marine Le Pen Fri, May 5, 2017 Marine Le Pen is a French politician who is the president of the National Front, a national-conservative political party in France and one of its main political forces. Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 10 Described as more democratic and republican than her nationalist father, she has led a movement of "de-demonization of the Front National" to detoxify it and soften its image