Macron, who is campaigning in the run-up to the French presidential final vote on April 24 against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, told France Info radio that he was in favor of an EU-wide ceiling on top executives’ salaries. The multimillion-dollar payment made last year to CEO Carlos Tavares when French carmaker PSA merged with Italian-American rival Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis, one of the world’s largest automakers, has become a major issue. Macron and Le Pen are trying to attract the 7.7 million people who voted in the first round for left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Melanson, who has described the final second round as “a choice between two bad guys”. A recent poll by France 24 found that 34% of Melanson’s voters said they would support Macron, compared to 30% for Le Pen, while 36% were undecided. “We have to fight at European level so that salaries are not excessive,” Macron said. “We have to set limits and have a government in Europe that can do these things. If not, society will explode at any moment. “People can not face purchasing power problems… and then see these kinds of amounts.” In addition to his € 2 million base salary, Tavares will receive € 7.5 million in performance-based earnings, € 2.4 million in pension contributions and a € 1.7 million bonus associated with the merger’s success. In addition, he will also receive shares in the company worth 5.6 million euros, according to Stellantis. In 2017, PSA chief Tavares took over General Motors’ European operations, giving it control of several plants, including the Ellesmere Port plant in Merseyside, which saw its last Astra leave the production line last week before turning in electric car models. Stellantis was formed in 2019 when the boards of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the owner of Peugeot, Groupe PSA, approved a merger of 40 billion euros (35 35 billion) in competing Toyota, Daimler, GM and Volkswagen. “The sums of this kind are astronomical,” said Macron, who was backed by 9.7 million people in the first round against Le Pen’s 8.1 million. “We have to do what we did with the minimum tax rates and the fight against tax evasion. “We have to convince our European partners to bring about a reform that will provide a framework for executive pay.” Earlier this week, French government spokesman Gabriel Atal described the Tavares clash as “obviously not normal”. Le Pen, who faces Macron in the second and final round of the April 24 presidential election, has also joined the debate. “It’s shocking, but less shocking than for others,” he said, before appearing to support the bonuses as a reward for the merger deal. “For once it worked well,” he said.