The ex-CEO should give up all his allowances, according to Griveaux

PARIS (Reuters) – The former CEO of Carrefour (PA:CARR) would have had to relinquish all of his severance pay, said on Sunday the government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, who called the Afep and the Medef to better enforce the rules of their code of conduct on remuneration of business leaders.

“When we failed, it goes without self-promotion. It has 500.000 euros of pension per year, 40.000 euros of pension per month, I think that’s enough and he would have had to give up his output package of € 13 million, to the whole, not only the four million”, he said on France 3.

The ex-CEO of Carrefour Georges Plassat has waived Saturday to a portion of severance benefits after the outcry on the amount of the latter, the Economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, judging their level of “incomprehensible and shocking,” in light of the “situation worsened” in which former leaders have left the group.

“This is a behavior of a thug and, from the moment you behave like that, and of the Afep and the Medef have the need and a strong obligation to uphold the rules they have themselves laid down,” said Benjamin Griveaux.

The minister of Labour Nicole Pénicaud has called the Afep and the Medef to “go further” in their code of conduct.

“I think they can and should go further,” she said on BFMTV, “there will be in a few weeks, a new boss of the Medef, I hope he will hear this message”.

(Yann Le Guernigou, edited by Peter Sérisier)