Veolia Environnement : Antoine Frérot participates in the 3rd Sommet de l’Économie
December 02, 2016 at 08:08 am EST
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2 décembre 2016
The 3rd edition of the Sommet de l'Économie, organized by Challenges magazine, gathers politicians and business leaders in Paris around the theme '2017, the end of taboos'. With Gérard Filoche, labor inspector and candidate for the Left in the presidential primary, Antoine Frérot, Veolia CEO, answered the question: 'Are enterprises in the general interest or in the private interest?'
The Enterprise, an object in the general interest
Above all, Antoine Frérot was keen to point out that there is not just one Enterprise, but a variety of enterprises with diverse forms, functioning and purposes.
But they all have in common the fact that they are the main tool for creating wealth in our economies. That said, he asserts that, 'an enterprise is an object in the general interest' since it contributes to the advancement of society as a whole. He stresses how society is affected when a company closes or collapses: the impact on a territory can be very significant. In this respect he called on French people to appreciate them more and defend them.
Broadening corporate governance to include all stakeholders
Not only is an enterprise essentially in the public interest, but it can only develop harmoniously if it is worthwhile for all the stakeholders in proportion to their commitment. They all contribute to creating the wealth produced by the enterprise, so each must be able to benefit from its fruits accordingly.
The participation of employee representatives on company boards of directors was introduced by the French government and as such was real progress. Antoine Frérot believes that enterprises would benefit from other representatives of its stakeholders sitting on their boards:
That is why he reaffirmed his 'desire to be able to further expand company boards of directors to include representatives of customers, lenders and the territories in which the company is present. Such an expansion of the boards, the supreme governing body of an enterprise, would facilitate the task of the management in striking the best balance between the interests that run through the enterprise.
More:
>Sommet de l'Économie (in French)
>Minutes of the debate 'Are enterprises in the general interest or in the private interest?' (on the Challenges website) (in French)
Veolia Environnement SA published this content on 02 December 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 02 December 2016 13:08:08 UTC.
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Veolia Environnement is the world leader in environmental management services. Net sales break down by activity as follows:
- water-related services (40.6%; No. 1 worldwide): water resources management, drinking water distribution and delivery, wastewater collection, treatment and recovery, engineering, design, construction of water treatment facilities and customer relationship management, etc.;
- waste management services (32.4%; no. 1 worldwide): collection, treatment and recycling of liquid, solid, non-hazardous and hazardous waste, waste treatment and recovery through composting, energy recovery from waste, etc. Veolia Environnement also provides urban waste management services (maintenance and cleaning of public spaces, provision of mechanized street cleaning and façade treatment services), maintenance of industrial sites, and dismantling of industrial facilities and equipment at the end of their useful life;
- energy services (27%; No. 1 in Europe): delegated management of urban heating and air conditioning networks, management of thermal and multi-technique services (operation of heating systems, facility design, construction, and maintenance, etc.) and industrial services (industrial process analysis, production equipment operation, service, and maintenance), general management of buildings and public lighting.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: France (21.5%), Europe (41.9%), North America (7.4%), Asia (5.6%), Africa and the Middle East (4.9%), Pacific (4.3%), Latin America (4%) and other (10.4%).
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