France: the sentence has fallen: angry, Macron fires the boss of EDF who denounced the closure of nuclear power plants
In the midst of war with the Executive against a backdrop of energy crisis, the boss of EDF, Jean-Bernard Lévy (who harshly criticized the management of the French nuclear fleet) was replaced by Luc Rémont
The sentence has fallen. Jean-Bernard Levy, former boss of EDF, will leave his post and will be replaced by Luc Rémont. The information has been confirmed in recent hours by several reliable sources and this appointment comes at the height of the war between Lévy and the Elysée against a backdrop of the energy crisis.
Indeed, in the French press, we learn that Jean-Bernard Lévy could have left in March 2023, reached by the age limit. But his departure seems anticipated by the Executive following his rather tense relations with Emmanuel Macron who, moreover, publicly reframed him when he criticized the management of the French nuclear fleet.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that the people who had the responsibility for the maintenance work of the park (explain) today that we did not take our responsibilities, because from the first months of my first mandate, we gave back visibility in the sector”, the President of the Republic got carried away on Monday, alluding to Lévy.
But, what did Jean-Bernard Lévy say to put Macron in all his states? For that, we must remember his very harsh remarks made to the Minister of Energy a few days ago, during the Medef summer school. “We don't have any problems of expertise, the skills, the experts, we have them […] We have a lot of projects in parallel and in a way, we lack manpower, because we don't have not enough trained teams […] A welder, a pipe fitter, it takes two or three years to train,” Levy asserted. And to add: “and why don't we have enough trained teams? Because we have been told that the nuclear fleet will decline, 'prepare to close plants'”.
This media outing, in the midst of the gas crisis, seems to have been very badly digested by Macron, as France Info explains to us . “In principle, Jean-Bernard Lévy should have left in March 2023, reaching the age limit after two terms at the head of EDF. But the climate between the group's management and the executive has deteriorated because of the tariff shield measures. Jean-Bernard Lévy has never accepted that the State uses the company to finance them, by forcing it to sell more nuclear electricity at a discount price to its competitors. The CEO even filed a voluntary appeal in May to have this device cancelled”, reveals the French media.
And to continue: “Jean-Bernard Lévy went from being a good student when his term of office was renewed in 2019 – a first since the mythical post-war boss, Marcel Boiteux – to that of a dunce asked to leave the premises. However, it has swallowed other snakes from the state shareholder, from the somewhat forced takeover of General Electric's nuclear activities at the start of the year to the little support it received during the conflict linked to the Hercules reconstruction plan. , which he had concocted in person… At the request of the State”.
On the side of the Elysée, the cup seems full and it was necessary at all costs to get rid of an element that had become too embarrassing. Jean-Bernard Levy is therefore asked to leave and now it is Luc Rémont who is in charge.
- Source : Sheikh Dieng
