This decision, which does not call into question the ownership of the shares acquired by Veolia on October 6, has no legal basis. The so-called "decisions already taken and publicly announced in the press on August 30, 2020 by Veolia and Engie" covered by the ordinance do not exist. At that date, there was only an offer from Veolia to Engie. And to date, according to the CEO of Suez himself, Veolia is not a controlling shareholder.
This decision is also particularly incomprehensible as only the management of Suez is competent to organize an information-consultation of its Employee Works Council. This is a reality that cannot escape anyone. Suez has not initiated an information-consultation procedure vis-à-vis its employee representative bodies since its management is opposed to the project. Bringing responsibility for the failure to organize such a consultation to Veolia is therefore perfectly grotesque since the Group clearly did not have this power.
Veolia points out that it has always made itself available to the managers of Suez and its employee representative bodies, and as soon as August 30th. It is common knowledge that Veolia has had several meetings with Suez management over the past few days to present its project. Veolia remains available to present its project to employee representatives.
Because this interim order, provisional, and issued by a single judge is based on so-called “decisions” that do not exist, Veolia is appealing against it.
Veolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With nearly 179,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions which contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them.
In 2019, the Veolia group supplied 98 million people with drinking water and 67 million people with wastewater service, produced nearly 45 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 50 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €27.189 billion in 2019 (USD 29.9 billion). www.veolia.com
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