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France Set To Limit Executive Bonuses

French government due to announce limits on bonuses and stock options at companies that receive state bailouts, but union leaders say the measures don't go far enough.

PARIS (AP) -- The French government is due to announce on Monday limits on bonuses and stock options at companies that receive state bailouts, but union leaders said the expected measures don't go far enough.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon is scheduled to announce a decree later in the day, and while details remain unclear, French business daily Les Echos said it would limit but not ban executive benefits, and be temporary -- covering only this year and next.

Francois Chereque, leader of the powerful CFDT union, said two years is not long enough.

"We have the feeling that once the crisis is past, everything will start again, as before," Chereque told reporters Monday.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has promised to curb excesses in executive pay amid public outcry against executives who took home generous benefits after their companies won billions of euros in emergency government aid in recent months.

Chereque accused the government of "naivete" in granting billions of state aid to banks and other big companies without asking for anything in return.

The head of France's main employers' union, Laurence Parisot, said on LCI television Sunday night that she had discussed the decree with the prime minister and that it would only affect companies helped out during "the exceptional crisis we are going through."

She defended stock options as a key part of the business culture, "something put in place to attract talent, keep talent, help talent grow, motivate them."

Some French executives have responded to the public anger by handing back their benefits, including at energy giant GdF Suez and French bank Societe Generale.

The decree, which does not require parliamentary approval, would be effective immediately.

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