* Board meeting set for Monday has been delayed-sources
* Economy minister says more time is needed
* Junior Transport Minister Idrac mentioned as candidate
(Rewrites with economy minister comments, changes dateline)
By Sophie Taylor
BRUYERES-LE-CHATEL, France, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The politically sensitive decision on who will head French power giant EDF needs more time, said Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, while sources said a board meeting on the issue had been suspended.
Lagarde, whose ministry represents the state on the board of the world's biggest nuclear energy generation group, said on Friday that more time was needed but there remained enough time before the mandate of incumbent Pierre Gadonneix expires in November.
The post is strategically important for the future of nuclear energy in France and abroad and because of the inherent conflicts between the company's profitability goals and its role in the French economy, and Europe, as prime power supplier.
"We should not run ahead on decisions that belong to the supervisory board, we have to give it the time it needs," Lagarde told journalists during a visit to a research centre.
A board meeting at EDF on who will replace chairman and chief executive Gadonneix will be delayed by several days from Sept. 23, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
"It will clearly be postponed by a few days,", one of the sources said, without giving details on the reason.
EDF, the world's largest utility, has declined to comment on the matter. The state has an 82 percent stake in EDF, a former monopoly operator that is still a bastion of public service sentiment and labour union strength while it has been modernising and expanding internationally.
There are several names being mentioned for the succession to Gadonneix, who himself would like to stay in his post for a third term but whose bold comments about needed hikes in power prices for French consumers have irked President Nicolas Sarkozy who fears the effect on the spending power of French voters.
Financial newspaper La Tribune on Friday named Anne-Marie Idrac, junior minister for trade, as a possible candidate, without giving a source.
Idrac ran the SNCF railways and RATP Paris metro firm before she entered government - but both are domestically-focused and much less exposed to competition than EDF.
Magazine Challenges said in its Thursday edition that the economy ministry advised President Nicolas Sarkozy to keep Gadonneix at the helm and appoint a deputy at his side to take his seat in a year's time.
The shine of Veolia Environnement Chief Executive Henri Proglio, once a rumoured front-runner, has paled because he put some conditions on a change of job.
Alstom head Patrick Kron, Areva chief Anne Lauvergeon and GDF Suez Deputy CEO Jean-Francois Cirelli have also been cited as candidates.
EDF shares traded 0.94 percent lower at 40.5150 euros by midday on Friday for a 1.45 percent decline this year. (Additional reporting by Marie Maitre, Dominique Vidalon, Julien Ponthus, writing by Marcel Michelson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)