This is one of the oddities of this vast plan to reorganize EDF: for eighteen months, the government had not communicated the details of the project it is carrying in connection with the management of EDF. For the first time, the executive sent, Friday, April 9, a document to the unions, intended to explain the reason for the approach and to give guarantees on the social level.
In this three-page summary, that The world was able to consult, the government takes up the broad outlines presented by EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy to the Assembly and the Senate in February. The executive notes that “The company is no longer able to finance its development”, given the current nuclear compensation mechanism. He is even more precise, believing that this situation “Does not sufficiently guarantee, in all circumstances, the coverage of costs and does not allow it to make the investments necessary for the pursuit of optimal operation of the nuclear fleet”. This means that the government considers that EDF can no longer ensure with certainty the proper functioning – and therefore the safety – of the 56 French reactors.
The executive believes that only its “Hercules” plan – which is no longer called that way, the name having aroused more opposition than anything else – can meet the challenges facing EDF, while respecting the requirements of the European Commission. Negotiations have been underway for more than a year in Brussels to find a balance that suits both French requirements and the rules of European competition.
Maintenance of the special status of EDF agents
The text also illustrates these difficulties. It details as follows: “This project would establish 100% state ownership of the nuclear, thermal and hydraulic fleet. ” The new EDF, 100% public, would hold more than 80% of electricity production in France and would not be listed on the stock exchange. This entity would have a subsidiary, also 100% public, which would own the EDF dams.
Finally, another subsidiary, called, for the moment, “New energies and network”, would bring together the sale of electricity, renewable energies, the Enedis distribution network and services. The capital of this second subsidiary would be open to the private sector to a certain extent – it is this approach that worries the unions, who see it as a first step towards the privatization of certain group activities. In an attempt to answer them, the document ensures that “Legal guarantees would be given on the maintenance of this subsidiary in the public sector”. “This entity would remain integrated (…) within the EDF group ”, also specifies the text.
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