REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Proglio has long looked for a second term, but his hopes were unattended.
Lévy is currently the CEO of Thales Group, a French multinational company that operates in aerospace, defense, and transportation.
Proglio was nominated as the boss of EDF, the world's biggest nuclear power provider, on Nov. 22, 2009, and his term expires the same day this year. His term will not be renewed and the company's board is expected to officially appoint Lévy on Thursday, according to the French newspaper Le Monde. The decision comes at the end of a long lobbying process from Proglio, who was looking for a second round, Le Monde notes.
The newspaper says that Proglio fell into disagreement with the French government, EDF's biggest stakeholder, despite positive results for his company. EDF is now the UK's largest electric provider, as well as France's.
Proglio was nominated by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was always perceived as a man of the right. But Proglio's support for nuclear energy clashes with the current government's policy, under socialist president Francois Hollande who would like to reduce France's nuclear power to 50%, down from a current 75%.
According to a government spokesman, the decision "is due to the energy transition launched by the government," the newspaper Le Figaro reports.
Proglio, now 65, is also just three years away from the retirement age of 68, while his potential replacement is six years younger.