The perks of working for EDF or "how heating a swimming pool is cheaper than boiling an egg"

"The real public service scandals" was a recent 40-page pullout in the weekly magazine Marianne, in which some light was shed on a number of issues usually under-reported (or largely ignored) by the mainstream media in France.

Schools, hospitals, the police, La Poste, SNCF and others were treated to a pretty thorough analysis, as was one of the nation's "international stars", the utility giant Électricité de France.

It makes fascinating reading.

Electricity prices for households in France are among the lowest in the European Union, but that could well change over the coming few years with a cumulative hike of around 30 per cent forecast by 2017.

Great!

While the rest of France will have to live with the increase, employees - past and present - of EDF, essentially a "public" company, will retain some level of protection.

Yes EDF is still a "public" company.

Although it pretty much operates to all intents and purposes as what might be perceived a "private" company or "limited liability corporation", the state still retains almost 85 per cent ownership.

Anyway, that's rather an aside.

Or is it?

Because wielding so much potential political influence, surely successive governments (and not just the current one) should at least have tried to put an end to a practice which no longer seems to be warranted but also seems downright illogical and not to say unreasonable: the perks enjoyed by the company and its employees.

Since 1946 the company's 300,000 current and retired employees have benefitted from privileges that might have been equitable when introduced but surely now lack credibility.

There is for example the 90 per cent reduction in the amount they pay for each kilowatt-hour of electricity.

Put another way, as it was in a report from the Cour des comptes or Court of auditors in February 2013, EDF employees pay a price per kilowatt-hour that's 16 times less than the average cost to the public.

Confusing figures perhaps but they all add up.

And there's more.

EDF employees don't just pay lower prices for electricity for their main residences.

Oh no.

If they're lucky enough to own a holiday home, the same benefits apply. And even apparently when they rent a house for a couple of weeks while on vacation.

That annual €74 subcription charge? Waived.

In the end, says Marianne, "at such prices, heating a swimming pool (for EDF employees of course) works out less expensive than boiling an egg (would do for everyone else).

But for justification as to why such advantages have remained at current levels since 1951 for electricity and 1962 for gas (yes, for historical reasons employees at GDF-Suez are also treated as a special case) union bigwig at Confédération française démocratique du travail (French Democratic Confederation of Labour, CFDT) Dominique Bousquebaud,  has the following explanation.

Try not to choke as you read.

"The system compensates for the fact that the salaries in the public sector are lower than those in the private and it helps attract better qualified workers," he says.

"It's a way today to compensate for the lack of profit-sharing that can be found at a high level in all major private companies."

Except, once again as Marianne points out, the Cour des comptes says that in fact salaries at EDF are slightly higher than in the equivalent private sector.

There again what does the country's body for auditing public institutions know?

If you want to read more about the tax breaks, the money lost to social security and how successive government have done little or nothing to alter the privileged status of EDF and its employees, try getting your mitts on the May 11-17 copy of Marianne.

Happy reading.

Now does anyone know of an opening at EDF?

World War II "armistice" - French ignorance or error?

Is the decision by the press office of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to use the word "armistice" in its description of the ceremony marking the end of World War II hostilities in Europe a question of ignorance of history or political correctness?

That's the question that has been posed by some sectors of the media here this week after the services of the Elysée palace, the French president's office, sent out what it called "a message" to journalists informing them of "The 65th Anniversary of the Armistice of 1945" to be held in the eastern French town of Colmar next weekend.

Elysée palace (from Wikipedia)

May 8 is Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) marking the date when the Allies formally accepted Germany's unconditional surrender at the end of World War II.

It's a national holiday in many parts of Europe and in France there'll be ceremonies up and down the country including the one at which Nicolas Sarkozy will be present.

But for the second year in a row the office of the Elysée palace has decided to use the term "armistice" rather than "capitulation" or "surrender" in describing the ceremony.

And that's a mistake, as far as the French weekly news magazine Le Point is concerned.

"The Armistice of May 8 1945 never existed," it says. "It was an unconditional surrender that occurred in two stages."

A point also taken up by the left-of-centre news weekly Marianne, which digs deeper into history, consults definitions of "capitulation", "surrender" and "armistice" and comes to the conclusion that either the whole affair illustrates a lack of knowledge of history on the part of the Elysée or it's an attempt to rewrite the history books.

"Such a confusion of the terms is understandable, if inaccurate, among Internet users, but not by those working closely with the French president," it says.

"Are the services of the Elysée totally ignorant?' it asks. "Or are they attempting to be 'politically correct' and trying to soften a painful part of the Europe's recent history?"

To get to the bottom of the matter the daily free newspaper 20 minutes contacted the Elysée directly to be told that the so-called "message" was "not an official press release nor an invitation, but simply a reminder of the upcoming event."

Perhaps not the most convincing explanation of the intent behind the use of the word "armistice", but the one with which it looks as though the the French media will have to be content.

Strauss-Kahn for president 2012 - continued

An update on the French media's fascination with a potential presidential bid by Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2012.

The next presidential election here in France might be a little more than over two years away, but that doesn't stop pollsters churning out surveys with seemingly clockwork regularity to "test the tide" of public opinion.

Ah such is the way of politics and punditry it would appear.

The latest one, conducted by CSA for the weekly news magazine Marianne, gives the current head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the edge in a second round head-to-head with the incumbent of the Elysée palace, Nicolas Sarkozy; 52 to 49 per cent.

In contrast the current leader of the Socialist party, Martine Aubry, would lose to Sarkozy in that all-important second round 48-52 percent if she were to be the party's candidate.

So another boost for DSK, as he's more commonly known here, a former finance minister and a man who has already made a run for the top job when he threw his hat into the ring for the Socialist party's nomination to be its candidate in 2007 but lost out in the end to Ségolène Royal.

This latest poll comes hot on the heels of (yet) another one in January which ranked him as the country's most popular political figure.

None of which seems to impress the man very much, even though it might well bring a smile to his face.

The subject of "whether he will" or "whether he won't" is still one he's unwilling to answer directly - even if interviewers try to tease out a response to the inevitable question.

The tone is changing though - and subtly so, as you might perhaps expect as time goes by, those opinion polls keep reflecting positive news (as far as DSK is concerned) and the same questions keep on cropping up.

Back in December he avoided mentioning any presidential ambitions while appearing on a prime time television news magazine.

But this week, speaking on national radio on Thursday (the day before the latest poll), while DSK responded in his usual evasive manner, insisting that he had a job to do, was resolved to see it through to the end of his term in office (Autumn 2012) he also admitted that he might reconsider "under certain circumstances."

"At the moment I fully intend to see out my term until the end of my mandate," he said.

"But if you ask me if under certain circumstances I would reconsider my options, then yes I could imagine doing that."

Dominique Strauss-Kahn sur RTL (04/02/10)
par rtl-fr

So there you have it; the latest in what promises to be a very, very long road to 2012.

Flatulent turtles send alarm bells ringing

Christmas and New Year might have come and gone, but here's a tale that (among other things) involves the mightily underrated brussels sprout - a seasonal favourite to dedicated fans.



Thanks must go in advance to the weekly French news magazine, Marianne, which on page 27 of the most recent issue brings its readers this story from across the Channel: one that might otherwise have gone unnoticed in the media here.

It concerns that humble aforementioned vegetable, its undesirable side-effects (on animals, human and otherwise), an aquarium in the British town of Great Yarmouth and some of its inhabitants - turtles.

Apparently staff at the town's Sea Life Centre took the unusual step just before the Christmas period of lowering the amount of water in the tank containing a certain "George", an eight-year-old green turtle.

It was a preventative measure just in case George - and the other turtles - reacted as they had done a year earlier to the seasonal treat of brussels sprouts they had been given - namely with flatulence.

Apparently the vegetable not only supplies a healthy dollop of vitamins, fibres and minerals for George and friends but also a pretty fair blast of wind.

So much so that the previous Christmas had been something of a nightmare for staff, with the accompanying "symphony of air bubbles" causing water to overflow on to the floor, and setting off the sensitive alarm system in the middle of the night.

This time around there were no such worries though.

George still got his brussels, but the precautionary measure taken by staff of lowering the water levels also meant that they were able to enjoy the holiday period without being woken by an alarm.

The French Socialist party and its elephants

It's not that often a video for a political party creates a buzz.

Even though it's perhaps still a little early to say that the parties here in France have got into full campaigning swing for next year's regional elections, the Socialists have nonetheless managed to raise a perplexed eyebrow or two with their latest television spot.

"La France qu'on aime" (The France that we love) is beautifully filmed, and as the journalist Gérald Andrieu points out in the weekly news magazine, Marianne, there's definitely a touch of "Ensemble, tout devient possible" (Together everything becomes possible), the campaign slogan the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, used when he was running for office in 2007.

Expression directe - La France qu'on aime, version courte.
par PartiSocialiste

In the film, there's the stress on how much local Socialist party politicians do to make the everyday lives of their constituents that much better.

Smiling faces of good-looking people who are not too drop-dead gorgeous but just enough to remind us of how we should all really look.

On the whole they're a youthful bunch, although older generations aren't forgotten nor are the handicapped. Of course the environment is given a chunk of air time in terms of "clean" transport, "clean" energy, "clean" everything.

There's a nod to the arts, children, education, technology, the future. In fact the whole gamut of issues - political, social and economic - all packed into two minutes (short version) or just over five minutes (long version).

But wait. Do a double take. What was that at one minute and three seconds of running time?

Thanks goodness Andrieu draws viewers' attention to it, because otherwise it might slip past.

For there, just for a fleeting moment, is an elephant, albeit a mechanical one.

So what? You might ask.

Well, that's also the rather pejorative term used by many to refer to the party's "old guard"; those that have for some had their hands on the reins of power for too long.

Indeed just last week several of them were welcomed back into the fold of the national bureau as proof that the party is going through the final phase of - ahem - "renovating" itself.

So what's going on in the TV spot?

"A subliminal image perhaps?" asks Andrieu. As though the party is trying to say "We (the elephants) are still around. We've won. It's us that has the power, not you."

And as if that's not enough, there's that added extra to the message for the "more paranoid" among us says Andrieu.

"The elephant doesn't just come from 'nowhere'," he points out.

"But from a (marionette street) theatre company which carries the name 'Royal de Luxe'."

What a coincidence, you might think.

Surely some sort of sign although it should be noted that the Nantes-based company has nothing whatsoever to do with the woman who was the party's candidate during the 2007 presidential election campaign and was the proverbial thorn in the elephants' sides then and still is now....Ségolène.

Apart from sharing a name of course.

Maybe proof, suggests Andrieu, of a "Socialist elephant conspiracy not to share power!"

Surely not.