French executives are the fattest cats in Europe.

A poll in Fortune found that French executives took 10 of the 20 top spots, including first and second place.

Top of the heap was Carlos Ghosn, CEO of French automaker Renault, who pulls in $45.5 million (not including the millions he gets for also running Japan's Nissan whose principal owner is Renault). That's seven times more than what he was getting in 2005 and the increase was the result of all those options in his package.

Number two on the list was Jean-Paul Agon of L'Oreal, on $19.3 million.

The other French bosses on the list were the men behind AXA, Total, Societe General, Vinci, Air Liquide, Bouygues, Danone and Alstom. Apart from the French, there were three Italians, two Swiss and two British execs.

belinda Hudson of Mercer's executive-compensation practice told Fortune that transparency remains an issue in France. France remains stuck on stock options for tax and other reasons, and companies don't face the same institutional investor pressure that businesses in Britain, the US, Australia, and other countries face.

The issue is whether any of that will change with an increasingly global economy.