France’s new socialist government has moved to clamp down on corporate pay by promising to cut the wages of chief executives at companies in which it owns a controlling stake, including EDF, the nuclear power group.

In a departure from the more boardroom- friendly approach of the previous right-wing administration, President François Hollande wants to cap the salary of a company leader at 20 times that of their lowest-paid worker.

Prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the measure would be imposed on chief executives at state-controlled groups, including Henri Proglio at EDF and Luc Oursel at Areva, the nuclear engineering group.

Their pay would fall by about 70 per cent and 50 per cent respectively should the plan be cleared and implemented in full.

Mr Proglio earned €1.6 million last year – 65 times more than his lowest-paid worker.

The government wants to put pressure on other companies in which it owns a stake to follow its lead, although it has no legal power to force such a change. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012