Electricite de France SA’s next boss will inherit numerous challenges.
Electricite de France SA's next boss will inherit numerous challenges, some of which will be eased by the looming nationalization and many that will remain just as acute.
In the midst of Europe's worst energy crisis in a generation, the French government wants the debt-laden utility to keep households' electricity bills.
Full state ownership could make that more achievable in financial terms, but will do little to solve the operational issues that are undermining atomic output.
The company needs could be a tall order when it comes under the scrutiny of labor unions.
Europe's competition authority and France's Parliament, where President Emmanuel Macron no longer controls a majority of seats.
"The nationalization will put an end to an untenable situation" given the misalignment of the goals of minority shareholders and the state.
The French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne confirmed the government's plan to raise its ownership of EDF to 100% from 84% currently.
While Levy's mandate ends in March, the government aims to have a new management in place from September, the finance minister said in an interview on Europe 1 radio.
The company's new leader will have to be able to "manage large industrial projects, as it's one of the biggest challenges for EDF," while demonstrating "a sense of compromise".
Energy independence has no price and the war in Ukraine has showed that depending on Russian oil and gas is the worst idea possible.
Labor unions also opposed what they called a "dismantling" of EDF and reiterated those concerns in recent days.
The European Energy Company EDF is having trouble due to government-imposed price caps and a Russian invasion.
There are growing concerns about the reliability of French power plants. The supply of Russian gas is dwindling, which is causing security concerns in European governments.