French President Nicolas Sarkozy, acting on a recent campaign pledge, is proposing restrictions on the use of "golden parachutes" and stock option grants for senior executives, according to press reports.

The restrictions, part of a broader economic package that will be submitted to lawmakers in the coming weeks, will likely be passed into law. Sarkozy's center-right Union for Popular Movement party consolidated its power during a first round of parliamentary elections on June 10.

Sarkozy's proposal would effectively ban the use of golden parachutes for departing executives who fail to meet performance requirements. The executive board would set performance criteria, the Financial Times reports, which would then be made public and put to a shareholder vote.

"No performance, no bonus," Sarkozy told the French daily Le Figaro, detailing the fundamental principle underlying the proposed law.

Sarkozy's proposal is meant in part to quell public anger over the roughly $11 million payout awarded to Noel Forgeard, the former co-chief executive of aerospace giant EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. Forgeard stepped down last summer following revelations that Airbus's A380 jetliner would be subject to production delays. Toulouse-based EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus, lost roughly one-quarter of its value on the news.

Investors have voiced outrage over golden parachutes and other forms of exit pay elsewhere in Europe this year. In March, the Ethos Foundation called for a vote against Hans-Joerg Rudloff, the compensation committee chairman at Novartis, in light of his support for severance packages for top executives, including CEO Daniel Vasella.

Meanwhile, stock option awards, which have been less contentious than cash-based payouts in France and other continental European markets, also would be reformed under Sarkozy's proposed legislation.

Options would only be available to senior managers at market price and only if the options--or a similar stock-based compensation plan--were offered to all employees, the Financial Times reported. The proposed legislation also would require companies to consult with labor unions on option awards.