JULY 1, 1999

PROPOSALS MADE BY THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT

The Management is still convinced that, in order to ensure Elf EP’s future growth and to face tomorrow’s challenges, Elf EP’s perimeter of activities must be modified and geographical positioning of the teams must be rationalized.

Further to meetings held with the Unions, the Management makes the following proposals, so that the modifications envisaged can be realized in the best possible social conditions:

• negotiate alternative solutions allowing the number of employees concerned by the transfer of their activities to be reduced, and in particular, some of the ways proposed by the Unions,
  
• as concerns relocation, try to find any means of minimizing geographical changes between Paris and Pau,
  
• study transfer procedures making it easier for the employees to adapt to their new environments and permitting them to have assurances as to their future jobs. For this purpose, the Management proposes, as a first step, that the employees transferred be seconded to the new firms --their labour contracts with Elf being maintained-- in conditions to be specified by way of negotiations.