Henri Proglio's two-salary U-turn

The recently-confirmed new boss of the French utility giant, Electricité de France (EDF), has agreed to relinquish his rights to claim a second salary with his old company, the multinational Veolia, where he remains chairman of the board.

While his decision has effectively put an end to the debate over the salary controversy, there's now a new confab over a conflict of interests and whether he should be doing two jobs: one at the mainly (almost 85 per cent) state-owned company EDF and the other at the privatised Veolia.

And to many, the French government would appear to be sending out mixed messages as to where exactly it stands on the issue.

You might remember the story out of France last week about this country's government saying that Proglio, who was confirmed as the boss of EDF on Wednesday, would in fact be entitled to two salaries rather than one.

In short he would get €1.6 a year for his new job and retain a paid position of €450,000 a year at Veolia, the company where he was to remain chairman of the board.

The government appeared to be backtracking on its previous promise not to support a double-salary with among others both the finance minister, Christine Lagarde, and the minister of the budget, Eric Woerth, "explaining" why the decision was now justified.

Hardly the most credible of positions for Lagarde, who had promised back in November when Proglio was nominated for the job that there was "no question of overlapping of remuneration and therefore he would receive a single salary."

Pragmatic politics at its best perhaps from the finance minister.

A day after his confirmation, Proglio made things much easier for Lagarde (and the rest of the government) by "choosing" to give up on the smaller of the two salaries, although there was plenty of conjecture that Nicolas Sarkozy, had put pressure on the man who had supported him in his successful bid to become president in 2007.

So the end of the story - not.

Because of course it's one that won't go away and which over the weekend took on another dimension with calls from opposition party leaders for Proglio to cut completely all ties with Veolia.

Among them was François Bayrou, the leader of the centre party Mouvement démocrate (Democratic Movement, MoDem).

"When you're the boss of a public company, you should keep in mind the interests of the public," he said on national radio.

"And when you head up a very large private company you have to defend the interests of the shareholders," he continued.

"This creates a dual allegiance that is unbearable, and which is a complete contradiction to everything we have done in France for decades."

And what do you know, the French government also seemed to be preparing the ground to make it easier for Proglio to give up all links with Veolia with both Lagarde and Woerth returning to their original positions - sort of.

"It's not a situation that should last forever," said Lagarde on Sunday.

"He (Proglio) recognised that when he appeared before (parliamentary) commissions," she added.

A sentiment echoed by Woerth who also maintained that holding two jobs couldn't be a long-term solution.

"When you're in a business which has international contracts, it requires keeping in constant contacts with clients, and not having to time to do other things," he said.

"For me it's a temporary situation," he added.

All of which could make it easier as far as Marie-George Buffet; the leader of the Parti communiste français (French Communist Party, PCF), is concerned for Sarkozy to appear to "save the day" so-to-speak and make the announcement, should he so wish, that the boss of EDF will no longer have a role in Veolia.

The French president is due to appear on prime time television on Monday evening for an extensive interview and to answer questions from selected viewers - an ideal chance for him to express his thoughts on the matter, according to Buffet.

"It's entirely possible that he will make such an announcement because we've already seen how many times both Christine Lagarde and now Eric Woerth have changed their minds," she said on the Canal + news magazine La Matinale on Monday morning.

"And who's to say that Sarkozy won't suddenly 'discover' that it's completely scandalous that Proglio had a double salary and a double responsibility," she added.