Francis Mer, the recently-elected French minister for the economy, finance and industry, has indicated that the hotly anticipated privatisations of French utilities Electricité de France (EdF) and Gaz de France (GdF) could take place as early as the autumn.

In his first newspaper interview since being elected last month Mer told Les Echos, a French financial daily, that the government was fully behind the privatisation of the utilities groups. "We stand completely behind the privatisation process but the exact date has not been fixed. In the case of EdF we have to change the company's legal status, examine the issue of retirement, engage in dialogue with the trade unions and come to some kind of consensus," Mer said.