The EDF company and its former CEO Henri Proglio in court for favoritism

In the sights of justice, contracts between the French electricity giant and consultants.

They are on trial from Tuesday May 21 at the Paris Criminal Court. At 74 years old, Henri Proglio must answer, alongside EDF and 12 other protagonists, for suspicions of favoritism surrounding consultant contracts signed between 2010 and 2016 for around 22 million euros.

Contracts concluded without making a call for tenders or advertising, therefore without any competition, which is prohibited in public procurement except in exceptional cases: in the event of an emergency or during low-value contracts.

But none of these exemptions apply here, according to a note from the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office which investigated for eight years and identified 44 consultants involved. Communicators, former business leaders, politicians, magistrates, lawyers and journalists… All have signed up for “communications consulting”, “strategic consulting”, “risk management”, “intelligence” or “lobbying” missions. associated with amounts ranging from 40,000 to four million euros over several years.

Henri Proglio was at the helm of EDF from 2009 to 2014. He faces two years of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 euros. His lawyer, Jean-Pierre Mignard, assures that most of the facts are prescribed and that nothing has been hidden. “Since 2010, we have been able to know what was happening inside EDF and in particular if what was happening there was illegalhe says. The board of directors was a representative of the State because the State is a large shareholder, there are auditors, it is controlled by the Court of Auditors. Let’s not make Mr Proglio a scapegoat for what has been a long habit of EDF”, says his defender. Maître Mignard also believes that there was legal uncertainty at the time and affirms that Henri Proglio did not benefit from any personal enrichment. The EDF company did not wish to comment.

The trial is scheduled to last until June 13. At the start of 2023, the communications company Image 7 and the founder of Havas, Stéphane Fouks, have already been sentenced for having benefited from these contracts, with respective fines of 150,000 and 165,000 euros. They pleaded guilty.