Veolia executive urged to step down

OPPOSITION PARTIES have called on one of France’s most powerful executives, Henri Proglio, to choose between his two jobs at the state-owned utility EDF and the environmental services company Veolia.

Mr Proglio has found himself at the centre of a political row since it emerged last week that he continues to receive a salary of €450,000 as non-executive chairman of Veolia, despite having taken over as executive chairman of EDF last November. He earns €1.6 million annually from the public company. When he was appointed to the post, the government indicated that he would receive only one salary.

Attempting to calm the controversy, Mr Proglio said last Thursday he would give up his Veolia salary, conceding that the focus on his remuneration was preventing him from carrying out his “industrial and social project” at EDF. “Nothing will divert me from this task,” he said. “My priority is to give EDF the ambition and the place it deserves.” Mr Proglio told France Info radio that he had not been told to give up his second salary by French president Nicolas Sarkozy or finance minister Christine Lagarde. However, Le Monde reported that the move was requested by Mr Sarkozy’s office.

Ms Lagarde was forced to defend Mr Proglio’s salary last week, saying only an attractive pay package could lure him away from the private sector. However, she then welcomed his decision to renounce the second salary.

The row has refused to abate. Yesterday the opposition Socialist Party urged Mr Proglio to relinquish his role at Veolia, citing a conflict of interest.

“The controversy will end when he has chosen,” socialist party spokesman Benoît Hamon said. François Bayrou, the leader of the centrist Mouvement Démocrate, also called on Mr Proglio to step down from one of the jobs.

Mr Proglio’s insistence on remaining at Veolia – which runs the Luas through a subsidiary – has been contentious since his arrival at EDF last year, with the head of the stock market regulator calling the arrangement “baroque”.