They were all but one. The small French political and economic world attended François Roussely’s funeral on Wednesday afternoon. The former EDF CEO (1998-2004), also former chief of staff of the Interior (1984-1986, 1988-1989) and Defense (1997-1998) ministers, was honored with a ceremony at the Saint-Louis des Church of the Invalides, reserved for soldiers and national funerals.
Apart from those who were at the economic forum in Davos, in Switzerland, everyone was gathered for a “last farewell to our brother François” in the words of Monsignor Antoine de Romanet de Beaune who officiated. He too was part of the “people”: he is the younger brother of Augustin de Romanet, CEO of Aéroports de Paris and former secretary general of the Elysée under Jacques Chirac. The list of politicians is endless: Lionel Jospin, Manuel Valls, Pierre Joxe, Alain Richard, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Florence Parly… All the ministers of the leftist government armies for 25 years.
Some said a few words of tribute. Like Pierre-René Lemas, former secretary general of François Hollande’s Elysée Palace who met François Roussely in Gaston Defferre’s office in the early 1980s. But also Louis Gallois, former head of SNCF and president of Peugeot. “The 50-year-old friend”, he amused himself by saying that they “appeased the rivalry between gendarmes and police” when they were directors of the Interior and Defense cabinet. The soldiers in uniform were also numerous.
Jean-Bernard Levy represented Luc Rémont
The other great life of François Roussely, EDF, was also very present. All his successors were there, including Pierre Gadonneix with whom relations were never good. Obviously, Henri Proglio, his “colt”, and Jean-Bernard Levy, who has just left office. But the entire nuclear industry has noticed the absence of a man of weight: the new executive director of EDF, Luc Rémont. As if Emmanuel Macron had shunned Jacques Chirac’s funeral.
Luc Rémont was in the United Arab Emirates for an energy summit. A trip “planned for a long time and with bets”, we timidly explained in EDF. “The message sent is clear, a former executive of the house mocks. Luc Rémont is not from the ‘Roussely school'”. “Without rest”, we promise at EDF which justifies that the new CEO was represented by… Jean-Bernard Levy. In fact, his predecessor was present at Saint-Louis des Invalides. But insiders of the “EDF house” have pointed out that the new CEO has not been replaced by the current head of the nuclear fleet who was present.
A disavowal for Cédric Lewandowski?
A kind of “number two”, Cédric Lewandowski, has shown a very strong closeness with François Roussely for 25 years. Interlocutor, he was his chief of staff in the Ministry of Defense, chief of staff when he directed EDF, and then he went on as a man of influence in the Army, in particular as chief of staff of Jean-Yves Le Drian. to 2017. Same observation for the current financial director Xavier Girre, also close to François Roussely. EDF executives see in this double disavowal changes to come in the governance of the group under the leadership of Luc Rémont. Especially since the new CEO, on the other hand, attended the funeral of Eric Molinié, former general secretary of Dalkia, an EDF subsidiary, last week. A strong contrast.
But the “Roussely networks”, Emmanuel Macron, have little taste for it. When he assumed the presidency of the Republic, he promoted Jean-Yves Le Drian to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but dismissed his “dir cab” Cédric Lewandowski. Two years earlier, she had blocked Henri Proglio, who was running for the Thales presidency. He is also close to François Roussely and his networks… The absence of the new EDF CEO, Luc Rémont, echoes this new estrangement from Emmanuel Macron. “The Élysée had to give the instruction not to send any representative of the State”, deciphers a pillar of the nuclear industry. The absence of Sébastien Lecornu, current Minister of the Armed Forces, was also noted. He contented himself with handing over a wreath flanked by his name.
Source: BFM TV
