Macron's government and EDF management are currently considering a wide-ranging plan, code-named Project Hercules, to "restructure" the EDF Group. The main aim of the plan, some of which has not yet been made public, is to hive off the most profitable parts of the national network, including the nuclear energy sector, the lucrative distribution network (ENEDIS), and subsidiaries in the renewable energy sector, which is experiencing strong growth. This manoeuvre indicates a strategy of collectivising losses and financial and industrial risks and privatising profits.

EDF was already weakened when it was made a public limited company and forced to divest 20% of its capital in 2004. Also by the setting of an unfavourable energy price and the "compulsory" takeover of part of Areva and that company's debt. The Hercules Project’s plan to restructure and break up the group distorts and goes against the mission of the EDF, which has been a public service enterprise ever since it was formed in the post-war period.

A PSI delegation addressed the demonstration in Lyon, communicated solidarity and support for the action from other trade unions in countries where EDF operates (United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Brazil etc.) and read out a message to the workers from its general secretary, Rosa Pavanelli:

"The PSI supports French national electricity public service employees and your trade unions on this day of action to defend the rights of citizens, users, employees, retired and unemployed people to a national public electricity service for all and not one that operates in the private interest of just a few”.

Supporters are proclaiming the merits of privatising public services and liberalising the energy market but the PSI's international experience and analysis of more than 20 years of privatisation and liberalisation policies throughout the world proves that these promises are false and that such policies result in failure, especially in the context of the social and climate crisis.

A report published today by the Public Services International Research Unit[1] shows that the real consequences of breaking up public electricity infrastructure, including generation, transmission and distribution and of introducing competition, as proposed by the Hercules project, are as follows:

• An increase in prices and the costs of transactions throughout the chain, leading to unreliable energy supply for users.

• The systematic under-valuation of strategic infrastructure for sale such as the networks and dams paid for by taxpayers over many years;

• The emergence of private monopolies that are allowed to set high tariffs in order to maximise profits;

• A deterioration in service quality and unreliable supply, including outages;

• The abandonment of investments and services in less profitable areas;

• Inefficient security and maintenance at installations;

• The disappearance, increased insecurity or relocation of many jobs in the energy sector, traditionally a provider of quality jobs.

The strategy of fragmentation also aims to weaken the trade unions and facilitate the imposition of reforms that would threaten the sector's collective agreements in the future. In many countries, liberalisation and privatisation of public services have also contributed to distancing citizens from civic and political engagement and undermining democracy, which has led to an increase in populism and nationalism.

In April 2019, a United Nations report on poverty in the United Kingdom blamed privatisation for increasing fuel poverty and reducing the reliability of electricity supply in the country. In the United Kingdom, one of the pioneers of energy sector privatisation, one in ten households are now in fuel poverty and by 2015 British users had paid an extra two billion pounds because of the escalation in prices. [2]

Since 2017, the British Labour Party programme has included taking energy back into public ownership, introducing regulatory measures and regaining control of the national energy grid in order to combat fuel poverty. The programme also envisages a strong government role in a new industrial and technological transition strategy and aims to democratise and promote participation by citizens in strategic decisions on control of the economy.[3]

Similarly, in Australia in 2017, Queensland launched an integrated energy policy aiming to achieve 50% renewable energy by 2030 with the creation of CleanCo, a state-owned renewable energy producer. The initiative aims to guarantee reliable and affordable energy supply and create 4,600 quality jobs for local communities that are phasing out coal-fired plants.[4]

France has a heritage of public services that have made it unique and the envy of most countries in the world. It is thanks to the national integrated electricity network and infrastructure and a national energy policy that France has been able to develop and ensure access to energy for all citizens at a common and accessible price, everywhere and at all times.

What EDF now needs is an intelligent and durable investment and restructuring strategy based on its strengths – its integrated infrastructure, its expertise, its activities, its men and women and their commitment to providing an essential public service. It should not be sold and dismantled. There must be a democratic debate about economic choices and strategic policies on the future of the country's energy and industrial sectors with a view to achieving a genuinely public electricity service, under public ownership, which meets the needs of all citizens, users and workers in the sector.

“In the context of the struggle against global warming, an integrated public electricity service is the key to a successful energy transition, not only in France but also throughout Europe and the world. The PSI joins French trade unions and all EDF workers in calling on the French government and EDF management to reject the Hercules project and maintain the integrity of the national electricity infrastructure which is a collective public asset built by public investment and funded by taxpayers over nearly a century. It belongs to citizens and must be protected, strengthened and improved for future generations, not broken up and sold for short-term gain on the basis of ideological considerations”, concluded Rosa Pavanelli.

[1] “Going Public: A Decarbonised, Affordable and Democratic Energy System for Europe”, was commissioned by EPSU and written by Dr Vera Weghmann from the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) at the University of Greenwich

[2] UN Human Rights Council, Visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, A/HRC/41/39/Add.1, 23 April 2019.

[3] The UK Labour Party Manifesto 2017, “For the many, not the few”

[4] PSI-UCLG, SDG 11 – Tackling the challenges of global urbanization: flagship local government initiatives to meet the SDGs, Spotlight on Sustainable Development Report 2019.