Support to French union actions for a national public energy service for all

In the current times of incredible social and economic hardship for workers and people worldwide, there is no more room for dubious energy liberalisation and privatisation experiments. This is the time to reclaim energy as an essential public service that needs to be for the many, not the few.

PSI reiterates its continued support to the struggle of French energy trade unions to halt the unbundling and further privatisation of EDF. We congratulate you on the success of the previous strikes, notably on 26 November and 10 December 2020 and extend our solidarity during the mobilisation of 19 January 2021. With your actions you are defending a strong French integrated electricity system that serves workers, companies, people and communities.

The fact that the Macron government pushed the project during the holiday season indicates their need to bypass democratic debate. As more people realise the implications of Hercules, the more resistance against it grows. Thanks to the relentless mobilisation of your members, union representatives and worker administrators, more members of parliament, mayors, associations of elected representatives and public figures across party lines realise that splitting EDF up will result in increased energy poverty and inequality, and will undermine the resilience and sustainability of the French economic and social fabric.

PSI's international experience and research show that the unbundling and privatisation of electricity infrastructure translates into higher user prices. It also causes the systematic under-valuation of strategic assets paid for by taxpayers such as networks and hydro dams, and leads to the deterioration in service quality and to unreliable supply. Private corporations also underinvest in research and development, which harms system performance.

For over 30 years, energy privatisation and market liberalisation have failed their promises of cheaper prices and greater access. You only need to look at your neighbour, the UK.

The French integrated electricity system remains a stronghold for pro-public energy advocates and a reference for many countries as they seek to (re)build integrated energy systems and provide accessible supply, decent employment opportunities, and the conditions to drive a just, effective energy transition.

We stand united with you calling for an immediate withdrawal of the Hercules project and demand, instead, that EDF management and the French government swiftly engage in meaningful, dialogue and negotiations with unions and the democratic French institutions over a pro-public, sustainable future for the nation’s electricity system that works for all people, not just the profit for the few.

We are willing to contribute to such dialogue with our global experience and expertise on the dangers of privatisation in the sector, accumulated over too many years and in too many countries. The ideological belief of the superiority of the markets, combined with short-sighted and unjust austerity measures, must not be allowed to weaken or jeopardise your public energy infrastructure.