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Macron’s nationalisation of nuclear energy corporation EDF will be a disaster for France

 Macron’s energy power grab will be a disaster for France.
Nationalisation of the nuclear energy giant is an ill-thought-out, populist
response from a president overwhelmed by a political crisis. European
leaders have yet to come up with any convincing answers to the global
energy crisis. ………..

France’s energy system is in
complete disarray and Emmanuel Macron’s solution is arguably the worst of
the lot, in a decidedly crowded field – an ill-thought out, knee-jerk
populist response from a president battling a massive political crisis at
home. Faced with long delays and huge budget overruns on new nuclear plants
at home and abroad, corrosion problems at many of its existing reactors,
and the same spiralling cost of living crunch that has gripped most of
Europe, Macron has decided that now is the time to renationalise heavily
indebted electricity titan EDF. 

. You can see the attractions, limited though
they are. As the country’s biggest utility by a sizeable margin, EDF has
become the face of France’s energy crisis. Taking EDF into state hands
removes it from the glare of the stock market, making it easier, in theory,
to tackle its huge financial and operational problems head on with the
approval of private shareholders no longer required.

 Nevertheless, for all the political hype, it is a move that I am willing to bet will almost
certainly backfire – and in spectacular fashion, too. Whatever the
problem, nationalisation is rarely, if ever, the solution. History has
taught us that. It is even harder to believe that nationalisation will
improve EDF’s widespread operational issues. 

 One of the main reasons why
its finances are in such a sorry state is that scores of corroding reactors
have forced it to shut down many of its existing nuclear plants, strangling
output. It is also suffering from huge cost overruns and missed deadlines
on new projects. EDF is beset by a host of problems, almost none of which
are likely to be solved by vanishing into the bowels of the notoriously
inefficient, heavily technocratic, work-shy French state. Telegraph 13th July 2022

July 13, 2022 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, politics