Demonstration against the Hercules project, illustration -

ROMUALD MEIGNEUX / SIPA

The inter-union CGT, CFE-CGC, CFDT, FO of the electricity and gas industries asked by letter to President Emmanuel Macron to set up an EDF “commission on the future” to study “alternative solutions” to the Hercule project. , to which it is "resolutely" opposed.

“The inter-union calls for the creation of a commission responsible for diagnosing EDF's situation, taking stock of 20 years of deregulation of the electricity market and proposing avenues for building the future of electricity. 'EDF', declare the union federations in a joint press release.

Complex transition

To this end, they sent a letter to the President of the Republic on Friday, of which AFP received a copy.

A previous letter to Emmanuel Macron, dated January 7 and signed by the trade union confederations, had remained "a dead letter" while "the negotiations between the government and the European Commission seem to be bogged down around the very foundations of the Hercules project", writes l inter-union in this new missive.

“Government, EDF and trade unions must sit around the table to discuss the future of EDF.

Everyone must play their cards on the table in the interests of the company and therefore of the French model of energy transition, ”said Alexandre Grillat of the CFE-CGC energy federation.

Dreaded dismantling

“The commitment of the company and its employees to providing an essential public service was in fact unanimously recognized in 2020 and continues to be so.

Consequently, the future of the EDF group and the alternative solutions to Hercule, which are more relevant at the industrial, strategic and societal level, deserve exemplary consultation and social dialogue but also a genuine democratic debate with the Nation ”, considers the inter-union in his mail.

The unions have been mobilized for several months against the EDF split plan, with five days of strike since November 26.

The last dates back to February 10, with a rally in front of the National Assembly, where the boss of the electrician was auditioned by the deputies.

The trade union federations fear a "dismantling" which could result in a split into three entities of the electrician, 83% owned by the State: a public company (EDF blue) for nuclear power plants, another (EDF green) listed on the stock exchange for the distribution of electricity and renewable energies, and a third (EDF azur) which would cover hydroelectric dams.

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