2023-10-25 23:01:23
The new public structure which will manage the 15 billion euros paid by Engie might be supported in the management of the funds by the Debt Agency, learns L’Echo.
On Tuesday, Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen) announced that the 15 billion euros in nuclear provisions that Engie will pay to the Stateat the same time as it will transfer the risks linked to the costs of nuclear waste management, will be housed in a new public establishment to be created, baptized Hedera. A structure which will not be housed at the National Bank, nor at the SFPIM, nor at the Debt Agency, as mentioned by some. This will be a fund independent, placed under the supervision of Parliamentexactly the Van der Straeten cabinet.
The Candidate Debt Agency
“It’s a little early to confirm. We ourselves are waiting for more clarity on what the government will ask us or not.”
It is however not not excluded that the Debt Agency will support it in the management of funds which will be entrusted to him, learns L’Echo. The Agency has in fact applied for this role, and this scenario would still be on the table. “It’s a little early to confirm,” reacts Jean Deboutte, director at the Debt Agency. “We ourselves are waiting for more clarity on what the government will ask us or not.”
The Van der Straeten cabinet also refuses to confirm, the point having not been not yet formally approved by the government. The main principles of the structure were presented on Tuesday in intercabinets. The reception was “cautious but quite positive”, indicates the office of a Vice-Prime. The Van der Straeten cabinet is now drafting the detailed texts, which it will submit to the government in the coming days.
“An excellent solution”
“For asset management, rather than creating a skills pool ex nihilo, Hedera might rely on the skills of the Debt Agency.”
For Luc Dufresne, former secretary general of the National Bank and president, until the end of last year, of the Nuclear Provisions Commission, this would be a excellent solution. “I have always advocated a independent structure to manage these provisions, under the control of Parliament, with a law which locks in its role as much as possible, he explains. But for asset managementrather than creating a pool of skills ex nihilo, Hedera might rely on the skills of the Debt Agency, a bit like what the Norwegian sovereign fund doeswhose operational management is ensured by the Norwegian central bank.” A role that the National Bank of Belgium might not play, he specifies, as European regulations on central banks exclude it.
The Debt Agency certainly does not have all the skills in this area, since it is used to managing bonds, not shares, and debt rather than assets, but it hashabit of working for the very long termand has a in-depth knowledge of fixed rate instrumentswhich will likely be part of Hedera’s investment portfolio.
Entrust nuclear supplies to a public fund managed by the Treasurythe administration within which the Debt Agency was established, this is what a study carried out in 2018 at the request of Greenpeace by the Zero Emission Solutions consultancy office, headed by Alex Polfliet. “This would give more certainty that this money will not be wasted,” argues Alex Pofliet. “It is necessary, as much as possible, that this fund be protected from political politics, who often think in the very short term.“
In the case of Hedera, the horizon is particularly distant and the stakes are colossal, since the 15 billion euros in provisions which will be paid by Engie to the State must, with the 8 billion and some in dismantling provisions which remain at Synatom, to be able to cover for 62 billion expenses in nominal valueexpenses which will be spread out roughly from 2050 to 2135.
The counter-example of the aging fund
L’other risk that must be limited as much as possible, it is that a government does not draw from this fund to fill its budget deficit. “The counter-example par excellence is that of the aging fund,” points out Pierre Devolder, professor at the Louvain School of Management. “This fund, fueled by budget surpluses, was to help finance pensions during the ‘grandpa boom’ But as Belgium was in deficit, it was not supplied for very long.”
“It will be necessary to clearly define the purpose of Hedera, and prohibit the use of funds for objectives other than covering the costs of nuclear waste management”
And in 2016, 15 years following its creation, Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt (N-VA) simply abolished it, and the reserves, which reached just over 21.5 billion, were returned to the budget of pensions. “I am not a lawyer, but it will be necessary clearly define the vocation of Hedera, and prohibit the use of funds for other objectives than covering the costs of nuclear waste management”, concludes Pierre Devolder.
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