It coordinates sustainable development in the Group: corporate coordination of the business lines and subsidiaries through the SDC (Sustainable Development Committee) (see section 3.5.2.3 “Sustainable Development Committee”), coordination of the dedicated internal networks such as the EMS and the predictive watch networks (see sections 3.5.4.2 “Environmental management system (EMS)” and 3.5.4.4. “Predictive watch networks”), coordination of relations and dialogue with external partners (see section 3.4.1.1.1 “EDF, a policy of dialogue and consultation”).
The detailed outline of the Group’s general CSR governance is similar to that shown in section 3.1.3 “EDF climate governance”.
The Group’s actions go beyond merely integrating environmental issues into its strategy, as EDF remains a socially-responsible, committed employer and a leader in terms of the professionalism and involvement of its employees, by building their skills and fostering greater workforce diversity.
| Principles of the Agreement |
The EDF group’s Global Social Responsibility Agreement was signed in 2018, and sets out the major principles to be respected in several areas: respect and integrity, people development, dialogue and consultation, support for local residents and the impact of the Company’s policies on local regions. |
|---|---|
| Scope |
All Group employees and subcontractors worldwide are covered by the provisions of this agreement, which the Group’s subsidiaries apply with a view to continuous improvement by including it in their strategic action plans. |
| Preliminary assessment |
Three years after the agreement came into force, a preliminary assessment was carried out based on a survey of a significant sample of seven Group subsidiaries and five departments of the parent company. The conclusions of this preliminary assessment highlighted the abundance of actions linked to the areas of the agreement, as well as the need to give a renewed push to a dynamic that was slowed down by the pandemic. The subsidiaries and business units of EDF also shared the same observation. |
| Extension agreement |
A rider extending the agreement by two years, i.e. until July 2024, was signed on 29 November 2021 by 15 trade unions and the two global federations (IndustriALL and PSI). This added time should make it possible to complete the process of firmly anchoring this set of fundamental Corporate Social Responsibility principles into the practices and strategies of all EDF group entities. |
| Monitoring body |
The EDF group’s global Committee for Dialogue on Social Responsibility (CDRS) is made up of representatives of all the signatories to the agreement. They are responsible for monitoring the implementation of this framework agreement and, in 2021, became committed to the Duty of Vigilance. The two global union federations, IndustriALL and PSI, held training for the CDRS on 24 November 2021. |
The European Works Council was marked in 2021 by the effects of Brexit in the United Kingdom. The body, which brings together 37 employee representatives from the parent company and European subsidiaries (French, German, British, Italian, Belgian and Polish), decided that the British delegation would leave the Company as of 1 January 2021.
As part of the project to renew social dialogue initiated within the Group in 2018 and the announced revision of the agreement on the European Works Council, a proposal was made in January 2021 to review the scope of the body’s competence.
A method agreement defining the terms of collective bargaining was unanimously signed with the Director of Social Dialogue and the representatives on the EWC on 5 May 2021. Negotiations to revise the EWC agreement opened on 28 September with three ambitions: to revamp and simplify the functioning of the body set up in 2001 (composition, competences, resources, etc.), to determine the fate of the United Kingdom within the body post-Brexit, and to incorporate the lessons of the pandemic. Negotiations were completed on 4 November 2021, and Amendment no. 4 was signed by a majority of the Negotiating Group on 25 November 2021.
In 2021, the EWC met twice. The meetings focused on news from the European subsidiaries, the Group’s employment situation and outlook, the annual presentation of the Group’s consolidated financial statements, the organisation and strategy of the nuclear decommissioning business, a discussion with the Chairman, Jean-Bernard Lévy, a discussion on backing Citelum’s activities, the Group’s subsidiaries in Europe, and an update on the work of the EWC’s working groups.
The EWC Secretariat met four times in 2021, including two extraordinary meetings in February on the pandemic, the Hercules project, the entry into force of Brexit and its consequences for the functioning of the EWC, and in March on the negotiation of the revision of the EWC agreement and the proposed method agreement.
Through five working groups, EWC employee representatives carry out work at the European level in connection with European news and Group policies (health and safety, site closures, consolidated accounts, energy transition, equality and diversity). In 2021, a guide of recommendations for what to do in the event of an industrial site closure was published.
In the context of the health crisis, EDF maintained close social dialogue with employee and trade union representatives in 2021 at all levels of the Company (sites, departments, company and group). This sustained dialogue, based on transparency and trust, made it possible to continue discussions on the management of the pandemic and the implementation of measures taken by public authorities within the Group, and to carry out a major transformation through collective bargaining within the Group’s companies on the theme of “managing and working differently”, with the aim of making operating methods more flexible and adaptable based on the lessons learned from the pandemic.
For EDF, the “relaunch” agreement signed unanimously in 2020 was extended with all the signatories for the year 2021 to maintain employee protection and organisational and social measures adapted to the Company’s context.
