Louis Gallois, the French co-head of EADS, is to become sole chief executive after a management shake-up designed to resolve a Franco-German power struggle at the top of the aerospace company.

As part of the same reshuffle, Thomas Enders, formerly the German co-chief executive of EADS, is to be handed sole charge of EADS's Airbus unit.

It was also reported that Germany has proposed creating “golden shares” in EADS in a move designed to give the French and German governments a veto over strategic decisions by Europe’s biggest aerospace company.

The Financial Times said that representatives of EADS’ shareholders, meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, in Toulouse, have agreed to set up a working group to study the unexpected proposal.

The French and German partners have been wrangling over how best to balance influence over EADS, the owner of Airbus, the world’s biggest aircraft maker, for some time. The French State owns 15 per cent of EADS, while Lagardère, France’s largest publisher, owns 7.5 per cent and votes the government stake. DaimlerChrysler, the world’s second-biggest maker of luxury cars, owns 15 per cent and voting rights for another 7.5 per cent.

The appointment of Mr Enders marks a radical, though not unexpected, revamp of the Airbus and EADS structure. However, in a sign that national sensitivities remain, the roles are expected to rotate between France and Germany, starting in 2011.

Mr Enderswill report to Mr Gallois, the sole chief executive of EADS.

Rüdiger Grube is the chairman of the board of directors but his role will rotate to Arnaud Lagardère, of France, in five years' time.

“This is a great day for this company. A great decision has been taken. It is a great day for the Franco-German axis,” Mr Sarkozy said after talks with Ms Merkel in the French city of Toulouse.

Their meeting at the headquarters of Airbus coincides with a period of rising friction between Paris and Berlin over economic policy, and officials hope that the new-look EADS will help to ease at least one source of tension.

EADS has announced 10,000 redundancies to claw back savings, but Mr Sarkozy told workers that France remained fully behind the company.

The French Government holds a direct 15 per cent stake in EADS, and a further 7.5 per cent is owned by the French media firm Lagardère.

The German carmaker DaimlerChrysler owns 22.5 per cent of voting rights.

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