( AFP ) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed on Wednesday that a third of company profits should go to employees, with the same amount reserved for shareholders and investment.
"A system in which a third of the profits of a company would be for shareholders, a third for employees and a third for investment is a system ... that would have a certain coherence and logic," he told parliamentarians.
"Those that think it is too much should say it's too much and above all why," he added.
Sarkozy, who oversees a centre-right government, was elected on promises to reform French institutions and the economy and raise growth and living standards.
Public concern about buying power, already a hot subject during the presidential campaign early last year, remains at the top of worries in opinion polls.
Sarkozy argued that his radical proposal would help boost purchasing power, in addition to the longer working week that he intends to implement.
"Saying that sharing profits has nothing to do with purchasing power, (or) saying that a revolution as profound as the one I have proposed for sharing earnings has nothing to do with purchasing power is to treat people like fools," he said.
"I have proposed on this question of purchasing power a real revolution on (employee) participation and profit sharing," he said.