EDF CEO Henri Proglio arrives for his hearing before a parliamentary commission of inquiry into electricity prices, in Paris on October 22, 2014 (AFP/Archives/ERIC PIERMONT)
It was “the act of the prince”: the prosecution on Tuesday requested a two-year suspended prison sentence and a 200,000 euro fine against Henri Proglio, CEO of EDF from 2009 to 2014, tried in Paris for “favoritism”, for having recruited consultants outside of competitive bidding rules.
“It was on his initiative that this derogatory and illegal procedure was implemented,” insisted the representative of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) Sébastien de la Touanne.
The magistrate also requested a fine of one million euros against EDF, prosecuted as a legal entity. A reasonable amount, which does not risk “sinking” the public giant, underlined the prosecutor.
In defense, Me Jean Reinhart, lawyer for the company, pleaded for acquittal, stressing that a conviction, even if not recorded in the criminal record, would prevent the industrial group from applying for certain international markets.
This trial concerns 44 disputed contracts concluded for around 36 million euros in total, with communicators, former business leaders, magistrates, lawyers or journalists. The consultants, each paid between 40,000 and four million euros over several years, were recruited for “lobbying”, “intelligence”, “strategic advice”, “communication” or “risk management” missions. Only those who received more than 400,000 euros are being prosecuted – for “concealment of favoritism”.
EDF CEO Henri Proglio at Le Bourget on October 14, 2014 (AFP/Archives/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
At the hearing, Mr. Proglio pleaded “effectiveness” and refuted any desire to circumvent the rules. For their part, most of the 11 consultants prosecuted – nine individuals and two companies, judged for concealment of favoritism – defended themselves by explaining that they had “never imagined” that they could be solicited outside the rules.
In this case, “no competitive bidding procedure, even the most simplified, was implemented”, underlined the prosecutor. And many of the consultants were only recruited because they knew Mr. Proglio personally. “It’s the prince’s doing,” he added.
– “Seen on TV” –
Minister of Education Claude Allègre in Paris on October 12, 1998 (AFP/Archives/Pascal GUYOT)
The magistrate thus joked, among other examples, about the recruitment of the physicist and former minister Claude Allègre, paid 336,000 euros (excluding tax) to carry out pro-nuclear lobbying. “He had a reputation, a credibility and I didn’t know any others,” Mr. Proglio explained about him during the hearing in May.
A justification which arouses the taunts of the prosecutor: “it is the famous ‘seen on TV’ which allows you to exempt yourself from the rules of public procurement”, he observed.
The prosecutor rejected the “fallacious excuses” of certain defendants, such as the fact that the over-the-counter procedures would have been justified by a “compelling urgency” to recruit. According to him, the case law is restrictive on this point and this emergency would have had to be linked to an “unforeseeable event”, which was clearly not the case.
Alain Bauer in Paris on September 30, 2022 (AFP/Archives/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
As for the 11 consultants prosecuted – including the former journalists Jean de Belot and Laïd Sammari, the criminologist Alain Bauer, or the consulting company of the former CEO of Vivendi Jean-Marie Messier – they “could not ignore” that no competition was not organized, underlined the other representative of the PNF, Bénérice Dinh.
The penalties required against them – for each, a fine, a prison sentence and a ban on applying for public contracts – were modulated according to the amount of the disputed contracts.
They range from six months to 18 months in prison and a fine of 121,000 to one million euros. Only the former director of Gaz de France and SNCF, Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, saw the prosecution request a prison sentence against him (one year), due to his criminal record – he was convicted in 2003 in the Elf affair.
During the hearing, each explained in essence that they had been chosen over the counter for their specialized skills in their chosen field: “We have never seen so many self-proclaimed specialists in their field,” quipped the prosecutor. “That’s the advantage of self-proclamation: no need for competition, we have a coffee, we sign a contract at the end of the table, it’s between us.”
The trial is due to end on Friday with the defense’s final arguments – including those of Mr. Proglio. After which, the court will reserve its decision. The decision should be made in several months.
© 2024 AFP
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