The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire on Friday announced the abandonment of the name “
Hercule project
” for the reorganization of the EDF group, in an interview with the daily Ouest-France.
But the project is not abandoned so far.
Read also: EDF: opponents of Hercules expected Thursday in front of Bercy
“
Let's forget about Hercules and build the great EDF together.
This is the message I bring to the unions that I have been receiving since the start of the week.
This ambitious project will take into account their proposals,
”assured Mr. Le Maire.
The State had detailed for the first time, on April 12, its plan to reorganize the electrician in a document sent to the unions of the group. He mentioned a division between a parent company and two subsidiaries and already no longer mentioned the name "
Hercules
". "
We have red lines ... We will not dismantle EDF,
" Le Maire insisted on Friday to Ouest-France. “
Its unity requires formal guarantees on which we are still in discussion with the Commission: for example a human resources department which can take care of all the group's employees.
""
Unity also means the possibility of having financial flows between the various entities of the large EDF: nuclear, renewable energies or networks,
”he added.
According to the State document sent to the unions, the reorganization would be based on EDF SA, an entity wholly owned by the State and bringing together nuclear and thermal production in France, engineering services and central functions. It would remain the head of the group and would no longer be listed on the stock exchange. All of the group's hydroelectric activities would be brought together in a first subsidiary, 100% owned by EDF SA. A second subsidiary "
controlled very largely by EDF SA
" would be devoted primarily to the development of renewable activities and distribution networks (Enedis).
Discussions between France and Brussels on the future of EDF have entered their final phase, and unions and a broad spectrum of the opposition denounce this project, seeing it as a risk of dismantling a strategic company.
“A
major asset of our national independence
”, EDF “
must be able to reinvest in nuclear power and develop in renewable energies at a much faster pace.
It must be able to do as well as its European competitors like Iberdrola or Enel
”, pleaded the Minister.
"
The transformation of the large EDF must also allow us to guarantee stable prices to protect French households and businesses from the risk of fluctuating energy prices
".
