French presidential front-runner François Hollande said taxpayers earning over €1 million ($1.35 million) a year would be subjected to a special 75% tax bracket should he be elected, underscoring heightened interest across Europe in raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals, The Wall Street Journal reported. Speaking on French television late Monday, the Socialist candidate lamented the "considerable increase" in French corporate executives' pay, which he put at €2 million a year on average. "How can we accept that?" asked Mr. Hollande.

Royal Dutch Shell is in talks with bankrupt refiner Petroplus to process crude oil temporarily at its Petit-Couronne facility in France, a union official said on Monday, Reuters reported. The refinery would process crude oil for Shell while a buyer is sought for the installation in northern France, under a draft deal that may be signed this week, said Nicolas Vincent of the CGT union. Shell confirmed that it was in talks on the future of the refinery, which it used to own.

The French government and two state-controlled entities have reached an agreement over how to restructure the French municipal lending operations of troubled bank Dexia SA , people familiar with the matter said Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the proposed agreement, the French government and state financial house Caisse des Depots & Consignations will each pick up a 31.67% stake in Dexia Municipal Agency or Dexma, Dexia's municipal-lending unit.

France's biggest listed banks are expected to report lower earnings next week as they forge ahead with downsizing plans aimed at addressing concerns over their exposure to the sovereign debt of Europe's troubled economies, Dow Jones reported. BNP Paribas and Societe Generale are likely to have been hit in the fourth quarter by restructuring costs as the two banks strive to reduce the size of their balance sheets and meet Europe's new stringent capital rules. Analysts are expecting further write-downs on the banks' Greek sovereign bonds.

President Nicolas Sarkozy monopolized French TV airways Sunday evening to announce measures aimed at improving the country's competitiveness, as well as his economic record, three months ahead of the spring presidential election, The Wall Street Journal reported. To help safeguard industrial jobs, Mr. Sarkozy said his government would shift part of social welfare costs from companies onto consumers by reducing payroll taxes and increasing the value-added tax—a levy similar to sales taxes in the U.S.—to 21.2% from 19.6%.

A French prosecutor has launched an investigation into the insolvency filing by the local unit of Swiss-based refiner Petroplus Holdings AG, Dow Jones reported. The prosecutor started an investigation into whether there was irregular money flow, of about EUR100 million, out of the company's bank accounts prior to the filing for insolvency, a spokeswoman said Thursday in a telephone interview. She said the French police's financial brigade is investigating and officers have already carried out searches at some Petroplus sites.

France and Spain have cleared major funding tests, steadying volatile markets and giving some much-needed cheer to the embattled eurozone, The Guardian reported. Paris and Madrid secured €13bn (£10.8bn) of funding between them in bond auctions at significantly lower interest rates than last year, despite a downgrade by the ratings agency Standard & Poor's last week that sparked fears of a run on the euro and the collapse of several banks. Stock markets rose on the news, with the FTSE 100 finishing the day up 38 points at 5741.15, while the German Dax rose 1%.

Germany and France on Monday pressed Greece and its bondholders to agree on a reduction of Athens's debt burden, warning that Greece's bailout loans from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund are on hold until a deal is reached with private investors, The Wall Street Journal reported.

François Hollande, the Socialist opposition candidate and opinion-poll leader, said that if he is elected France's president in May, he will seek help from the only institution he feels can salvage the euro: the European Central Bank, The Wall Street Journal reported. Speaking in an interview at his campaign's headquarters in central Paris, Mr. Hollande, 57 years old, said only the ECB has enough credibility and financial firepower to restore investor confidence and unravel the debt crisis that has been roiling the euro zone for two years.

David Cameron was at the centre of a furious row with Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday after Paris tried to isolate the prime minister at the EU summit by suggesting that Britain is seeking to exempt the City of London from all European regulations, The Guardian reported. In a move dismissed by officials in Brussels as an attempt to set Britain up as the "fall guy", senior French figures said Cameron wanted an "opt out" from EU financial services regulation.