business plan for 2004 - EDP

2003 - Annual Report - EDP
The duties of the GFN include the management of the
debt of the holding company and of EDP Finance BV, the
inherent interest-rate and exchange-rate risk and
centralised cash management for Group companies
operating in the domestic electricity industry or those
that are directly or indirectly wholly owned by EDP,
and negotiating and contracting financing and credit
lines. In parallel, the GFN monitors the financial areas
of the subsidiaries. The GFN is also the main
interlocutor with the debt markets and banks, and with
the rating agencies.
The Brazil Link Office (GLB) was set up in 2003, taking
into account the investments in the Brazilian electricity
sector. During a time of major corporate transformations
in Brazil a growing need has been seen for an office
within EDP that could provide an overview of the more
relevant and critical areas of the businesses in the country.
The GLB has therefore an important role in monitoring
and accompanying the evolution of operations in Brazil
in the various areas, particularly the strategic, financial,
operational and legal areas, while strengthening the
interaction between EDP and its subsidiaries in the
country.
The Energy Planning Office (GPE) was set up in 2003 to
support the Group in the assess mont of its present and
future position within the Iberian market, and forecasts of
energy requirements and sourcing options. The GPE is
therefore an organisational platform providing the link
between the Group’s various gas and electricity business
areas, designed to facilitate the necessary integrated
vision over of the EDP Group’s market and operations.
The mission of the Human Resources Office (GRH) is
to support the development of the organisation and its
people by drawing up policies and strategies in keeping
with the Group’s objectives and values. Its main
responsibilities include (i) the concept and development
of HR strategies, policies and procedures, and
Prevention & Safety at Work, (ii) negotiations with
social partners, (iii) control of HR policy execution, (iv)
development of people management instruments, (v)
implementation of social support for workers and
pensioners, (vi) development of a safety culture, and
(vii) adequacy of the corporate HR systems in the light
of applicable legislation and regulations and of
organisational development needs.
The mission of the Regulation and Tariffs Office (GRT)
is to support the Executive Committee in taking decisions
within the scope of regulation and in relations with the
various entities that supervise the energy sector. The GRT
has accompanied the development and implementation
of the new European Electricity and Natural Gas
Directives and has studied the impacts arising from the
implementation of the MIBEL. Liberalisation of the
energy sectors, together with regulation of the “natural
monopolies” involves profound legislative, regulatory
and organisational changes, whose implications on the
group’s profitability have to be carefuly analysed,
requiring the development of economic and financial
models and tariff studies.
Investors Relations Office (see 1.8)
The Information Systems Office (GSI) is in charge of
fostering the alignment of the Group’s information
systems with the business objectives and with
technological evolution, supporting the Board of
Directors in the definition of objectives, policies and
standards in the area of systems and technologies and in
the overall contracting of equipment and services. The
GSI is also charged with aiding the Executive Committee
in drawing up the Group’s information systems and
technologies strategy and in establishing the Systems
Masterplan, defining the architecture of the systems and
technology, promoting IT security and carrying out the
planning, budgeting and management control of the
information systems and technologies.
The Legal Office (GJR) provides legal advice to the
Board of Directors and Executive Committee, as well as
to the other offices and various Group companies
requesting legal advice. It monitors and discloses new
legislation of interest to the company’s businesses, with a
special focus on the electricity sector. It co-operates in
drawing up the EURELECTRIC studies and legal
opinions. It is engaged in legal proceedings and acts as
the Group’s lawyers in legal proceedings of a civil,
administrative or fiscal nature.
The Gas Business Integration Project is responsible for
the integration of the natural gas business into the EDP
Group. Its duties include co-ordination of the activities
required by the move into the gas market and by the
development of the business associated therewith, from a
standpoint of maximisation of the synergies generated by
the gas and electricity businesses.
>> 1.3 Specific Committees set up within EDP
As a company whose shares are listed on the New York
Stock Exchange, EDP is subject not only to applicable
domestic legislation but also to certain North American
securities legislation including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
July 2002, and other regulations enforced by the Securities
and Exchange Commission and by the New York Stock
Exchange itself.
The referred legislation has became the major guideline for
the organic changes implemented at EDP last year, with a
focus on the creation of the Audit Committee of the EDP
Board of Directors, with significant functions in supervising
the preparation of financial information and monitoring
the control systems; and on the creation of an Information
Disclosure Control and
Procedures Committee,
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