Universal Registration Document 2022

3.4.1 Dialogue and consultation with stakeholders

Dialogue with stakeholders is a major part of EDF’s culture. It forms the basis of EDF’s cooperation with our stakeholders. The Group has made dialogue and consultation one of its priority societal commitments.

3.4.1.1 Experience in dialogue and consultation

EDF’s history and its role as a major investor and operator throughout France have allowed it to develop long-standing, tried and tested experience in listening, dialogue, and consultation with stakeholders, which are organized with a view to taking into account multiple stakeholders and a diverse range of situations. In a fast-changing society, EDF supports social innovation in local stakeholder relations.

3.4.1.1.1 EDF, a policy of dialogue and consultation

3.4.1.1.1.1 EDF: a pioneer in the implementation of stakeholder panels

For over 20 years, the EDF group has relied on different external stakeholder councils, at EDF, Group, country and subsidiary level. Several panels of experts from civil society provide Group managers with their view on the major topics of interest to the EDF group.

Group Stakeholder Advisory Committee

For dialogue with external stakeholders, over and above forums for listening to third parties, strategic watch, and ongoing partnerships, the main body is the new Stakeholder Advisory ⁽¹⁾ Committee. This is a joint, multidisciplinary, voluntary group made up of thirteen individuals representing civil society (climatologists, delegates from student and consumer groups, economists, NGOs, solidarity actors, etc.). It has been co-chaired by EDF’s Chair, and by Cécile Renouard (1) since 2022. Members of the Committee share their insights on the Company’s strategic orientations with the Chairman. Minutes of the discussions are systematically produced at the end of each session.

Three sessions were held over the past year on the following themes: 2050 energy mix scenarios and externalities relating to these scenarios, the duty of vigilance and its practical Group-wide implications, plus climate change adaptation. EDF encourages members of this Committee to speak both internally and externally. For example, in 2022, Germain L’Hostis made a presentation to the Group Talents department, and Kalina Raskin was featured in the Mag discussing biomimetics ⁽²⁾.

Other Advisory Committees in which stakeholders are involved

• Scientific Council: Chaired by the Chair of the Académie des sciences, this Group-level council met 3 times in 2022 to discuss energy markets, offshore wind, and EDF’s R&D policy.
• Edison Stakeholder Advisory Panel (SAP): the SAP met three times in 2022, discussing the role gas plays in electrical system flexibility and security, updating Edison’s material issues, and conducting the first review of the SAP after three years of operation.
• Enedis Stakeholder Council (SC): the SC met three times to discuss the renewal of concessions, current thinking regarding the entreprise à mission (i.e., French legal framework in which businesses pursue a set social and environmental purpose with specific sustainability goals), electric mobility, follow-up of SC recommendations, and solidarity purchasing. The minutes of the conclusions of each Advisory Committee meeting are shared with the members of Enedis’ Executive Committee. Enedis implemented in 2021 regional iterations of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Following this experimental phase, the twenty-five regional divisions set up their regional Stakeholder Councils in 2022.

3.4.1.1.1.2 Experience in public debate

One specific aspect of major local development projects in France is the “public debate”, a participatory process that lasts between four and six months during which individuals with an interest in the project can have their say about its implementation. The EDF group has implemented many projects entailing a formal public debate.

Dunkirk Wind farm

Following the public debate on the offshore wind project off the Dunkirk coast that was held from 14 September to 13 December 2020 and the decision to pursue the project taken in May 2021 (in conjunction with RTE, which is tasked with connecting the facility), in June 2021 the French National Public Debate Commission (CNDP) tasked two guarantors with monitoring the post-debate consultation phase until the start of the public enquiry.

Guarantors draw up an annual report giving a fully neutral and transparent account of all the consultation actions carried out and points raised on both sides. It also includes guarantors’ recommendations for the next steps of the ongoing consultation. The ongoing consultation’s first intermediate report covering the period from June 2021 to the end of June 2022 was published on 10 October 2022: its conclusions were very positive ⁽³⁾.