His appointment validated by Parliament, Bernard Fontana takes the helm of EDF "without feeling dizzy"

An old hand in industrial and nuclear affairs, Bernard Fontana, the candidate designated by Emmanuel Macron to replace Luc Rémont as president of EDF , knew what to expect when he appeared this Wednesday morning before the senators "with humility, listening and commitment" , before engaging in the same exercise before the deputies. The boss of Framatome had an appointment before the economic affairs committees of both Chambers for a highly anticipated oral presentation. An essential exercise so that his nomination is not only the work of the prince (even if the State is now a 100% shareholder of EDF), but also validated by the representatives of citizens who consume electricity.

Bernard Fontana, whose "solid track record" had been praised by the LR rapporteur of the Senate's Economic Affairs Committee, Daniel Grémillet, obtained the green light from parliamentarians without too much difficulty after more than four hours of hearings that put him on the grill, but never really destabilized him: in the end, the elected representatives of the two committees endorsed the choice made by the Head of State to place Bernard Fontana at the head of the French electricity giant by 55 votes to 40. He will take up his duties as CEO of EDF on Monday, May 5, following a general meeting of the group, thus succeeding Luc Rémont, who was abruptly dismissed by the President of the Republic on March 21 after "disagreements" over electricity prices and the financing of the new nuclear program.

In this tense context, Fontana's entrance exam was "nothing of a formality" as LR senator Martine Berthet reminded us: there was no shortage of trick questions about the state of health of EDF, the "prohibitive" electricity prices offered to electro-intensive manufacturers and the doubts surrounding the 100 billion euro financing of the first six EPR 2 already highlighted by the Court of Auditors , coming from both the right and the left. But the annoyance of the parliamentarians was more aimed at "the contradictory injunctions" of the State shareholder who wants up to fourteen new EPRs while asking EDF for low prices for electricity, and the multi-year energy programming (PPE) painfully defended by Francois Bayrou on Monday April 28 in the Assembly . Although supported by Macronist elected officials, Bernard Fontana's candidacy was not directly challenged by the opposition. The LFI rapporteur of the Assembly's Economic Affairs Committee, Matthias Tavel, simply noted that "changing the name of the CEO is a very narrow way of responding to the impossible equation of EDF" which cost Luc Rémont his job, and before him his predecessor Jean-Bernard Lévy .

"You are not a candidate for the position of Electricité nucléaire de France but for Electricité de France, with all the space that must be given to renewable energies," warned the rebellious elected representative from Loire-Atlantique. Before expressing his annoyance at the "circumvention of Parliament" by the government "which refuses to vote on the country's new energy roadmap." And to conclude: "Our vote will not only be on your name but on the government's policy." "I am indeed a candidate for the position of CEO of Electricité de France," replied Bernard Fontana with a smile, saying he was determined to pursue a policy of "complementarity of energies" between nuclear and renewables. The aspirant to the presidency of EDF, however, did not respond to the kiss of death given by an RN deputy who was delighted with his candidacy "proposed a long time ago by Jean-Philippe Tanguy to replace Luc Rémont."

"I love industry, I've devoted my entire career to it," recalled Bernard Fontana, before calmly unrolling his CV. At 64, this senior civil servant, a graduate of the École Polytechnique and an engineer in the Armaments Corps, worked for a long time for the Société Nationale des Poudres et Explosives (SNPE), before heading HR for the Arcelor-Mittal group at a time when the steelmaker was not yet laying off workers in France , then taking over the management of the Swiss cement manufacturer Holcim, whose merger with Lafarge he oversaw. But it was above all the last ten years he spent turning around Framatome, the EDF subsidiary responsible for manufacturing large components for nuclear reactors, that interested parliamentarians. Senators and deputies are still looking for answers about the construction cost overruns and deadlines for the Flamanville EPR, which finally entered service at the end of 2024 , but is still in the ramp-up phase.

"I am well aware of the challenges that await me at the helm of EDF," Bernard Fontana assured senators and deputies before listing his main priorities: "Produce low-carbon electricity to serve households, the country's sovereignty and the fight against climate change," "continue the recovery of nuclear production with a target of 400 TWh in 2030" (versus 362 TWh in 2024), "provide competitive electricity" to consumers and electro-intensive industrialists, "control the timescales and costs of new nuclear power" to build the first six EPR 2 reactors wanted by Emmanuel Macron, "relaunch investments in hydropower" by avoiding the competitive bidding of dams wanted by Brussels, and "secure EDF's offshore wind projects."

But like the centrist deputy Charles de Courson who called Bernard Fontana "Mr. Candidate" , the parliamentarians were above all concerned about the "financing wall" facing EDF: "54 billion euros to extend the existing fleet, 23 billion for the Flamanville EPR, 36 billion pounds for the British EPRs at Hinkley Point, 100 billion for the EPR 2... how do you do it?" Several parliamentarians were concerned about a possible new fiasco of the EPR 2 program. To the Green senator Yannick Jadot who wondered "what vertigo is gripping the candidate for the presidency of EDF" in the face of the enormous industrial and financial challenges awaiting the company, Bernard Fontana replied: "Do I feel dizzy? No. On the other hand, I am well aware of the challenges and I am counting on the feedback from the teams that have already built four EPRs [in addition to Hinkley Point, in Taishan in China, Olkiluoto in Finland and Flamanville in France, editor's note]. There is a way to meet this challenge of new nuclear power, our veterans have already done it for the existing fleet ." How can we find the 100 billion needed for the first six EPRs? "EDF is a robust company that posted record results in 2024 and will maintain its debt [54 billion euros in 2024, editor's note] " at a sustainable level, Fontana dismissed. The future CEO is banking as much on "the subsidized loan" promised by the State to build the six EPR 2s as on the "series effect" which, according to him, will "free up considerable financial room for maneuver."

The future CEO of EDF promised "a quote and a timetable" for the EPR 2 "by the end of the year" , "a rapid alignment of the positions of EDF and the State on the possible financing arrangements" and an "investment decision by the second half of 2026 for entry into service of the first tranche in 2038" . A way of confirming the two to three year delay now expected for the delivery of the first two EPRs at Penly which partly cost his predecessor Luc Rémont his dismissal.

" It may be the mission of a lifetime," he said, accepting the high-risk job in November 2022, without realizing that he would so quickly fall into Jupiterian disgrace. Bernard Fontana, for his part, pretended to take things calmly: "One of my best friends told me 'I wouldn't recommend this position to my worst enemy,' today I accept it with determination and confidence." Time will tell if the new CEO of EDF is up to the task of "mission impossible" highlighted by more than one parliamentarian... and if he will avoid the premature triggering of his ejection seat.