Prague/Strasbourg, France - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Wednesday that his government's fall will not threaten his country's ability to chair the European Union.

"The fact that the government has resigned won't endanger the (EU) presidency," Topolanek told EU lawmakers a day after his cabinet lost a vote of no-confidence in parliament.

Paris - French-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM said on Wednesday that it had completed its takeover of 25 per cent of the capital of the Italian airline Alitalia.

Air France-KLM is paying 323 million euros (436 million euros) for its share, but the company said it in a statement that the partnership would provide it "greater access to the Italian market."

Paris - The French government has delivered an ultimatum to companies on proposing a framework for bonus and other payments to their executives or the state will impose santions, a close adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday.

The companies have until March 31 to come up with proposals, Henri Guaino told France Inter radio. "This is not an invitation; it's an ultimatum.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday said that there should be no more severance payments or bonuses to executives of French firms who have performed badly.

"There must be no more 'golden handshakes'. There must be no more bonuses or rewarding of free shares or stock options in a company that receives state aid, that undertakes massive job cuts or resorts to putting large numbers of its employees on short-time work," Sarkozy said in an address in the northern city of Saint Quentin.

Paris - The French government has reacted with anger to the report that the outgoing head of the auto equipment supplier Valeo is to be given 3.2 million euros (4.34 million dollars) as severance payment, French media reported on Tuesday.

Government spokesman Luc Chatel said that the state, which owns 8 per cent of the company's capital, would at the upcoming shareholders' meeting vote against the payment to outgoing CEO Thierry Morin.