EDF CEO Henri Proglio at Le Bourget on October 14, 2014 (AFP / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
The trial of electricity giant EDF, its former CEO Henri Proglio and twelve other people for suspicions of favoritism around consulting contracts opened Tuesday before the Paris court, with procedural debates.
Addressing the man who managed the company between 2009 and 2014, the first called to the stand at the start of the afternoon to state his identity, President Benjamin Blanchet listed the 44 consultant contracts concluded without competitive bidding between 2010 and 2016, at the heart of this trial which is expected to last two weeks.
The investigation opened in 2016 by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) unearthed dozens of consulting contracts signed by communicators, former business leaders, politicians, magistrates, lawyers and journalists… for amounts ranging from 40,000 to 4 million euros over several years.
For the PNF, these contracts should not have been concluded over the counter and should have been the subject of competitive bidding: none of the exemptions provided for by the regulations could apply to these public contracts.
Henri Proglio, who faces two years of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 euros for favoritism, proclaims his innocence.
On May 9, he declared to the weekly Le Point: “I came from the private sector and when I arrived at EDF, I did as before. No one in the legal department alerted me to the need to make calls for tenders.
– “Cataclysmic” –
EDF CEO Henri Proglio arrives for his hearing before a parliamentary commission of inquiry into electricity prices, in Paris on October 22, 2014 (AFP / ERIC PIERMONT)
The hearing began with a priority question of constitutionality (QPC) raised by the company of the former CEO of Vivendi Jean-Marie Messier, who was a consultant to EDF and was refused a “guilty plea” procedure. ” in that case. After a short deliberation, the court refused to transmit this QPC.
A flurry of procedural arguments were then made by the defense, with the prosecution responding by calling for their complete dismissal. The court will decide on this subject on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
The situation of the former secretary general, Alain Tchernonog, cited for favoritism and absent for health reasons, was notably debated.
His lawyer requested that the charges against him be dropped, others noted the importance of his testimony, arguing that it was not possible to proceed without him. The prosecution suggested that his case be disjointed.
Me Jean Reinhart, lawyer for the company which will become 100% public again in 2023 after partial privatization, spoke of the “cataclysmic consequences” of a possible conviction of EDF, “both for future contracts and for past contracts”. He requested the cancellation of the procedure.
Advising Henri Proglio, Me Pierre-Emmanuel Blard for his part maintained “that at least 26 contracts” were prescribed.
– “Strategic monitoring” –
At the end of its investigation, the PNF decided not to pursue consultants who had benefited from contracts below the “formalized procedure” threshold (around 400,000 euros at the time).
The former boss of Elf, Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, indicted in Togo for “complicity in fraud”, filed a complaint on Tuesday against the conditions of his arrest in Ivory Coast and his extradition to Togo in 2012, a- we learned from his lawyer. (AFP/)
Among those affected by higher amounts, six have already been fined via “guilty plea” procedures.
Ultimately, eleven former consultants were cited in court, either directly or via their company, for concealment of favoritism. During the investigation, all denied having committed an offense.
Among them is Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, convicted in 2003 in the Elf affair, prosecuted for contracts totaling 1.36 million euros excluding tax between 2010 and 2015, according to which he was “associated with the development of the strategy of international development” of EDF and had to “bring his experience” in different areas.
Alain Bauer in Paris on September 30, 2022 (AFP / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
Another defendant, the journalist Laïd Sammari signed contracts totaling 1.032 million excluding tax (2010-2014) for “consulting for communication and image to the CEO – protection of the client’s image in the media”, then “consulting to the direction of economic intelligence in the fields of media”.
Former magistrate Alexandre Medvedowsky is indicted for a total amount of 2.44 million excluding tax from 2009 to 2013. His missions: “political, union, administrative and legal monitoring” or “establishment of a system strategic monitoring with the main gas players in Europe”.
Also on trial are the criminologist Alain Bauer, the former editorial director of Le Figaro Jean de Belot, the journalist Roland Jacquard, Valérie Terranova, who was advisor to Jacques Chirac at the Elysée, a former EDF employee, an Italian banker and Eurotradia company.