France favors Lauvergeon as EADS board chief: paper

French President Francois Hollande wants Anne Lauvergeon, former chief executive of French nuclear reactor maker Areva, to chair the board of European planemaker EADS , French Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche reported.

The paper quotes a source close to the government as saying that Lauvergeon is "the choice of Francois Hollande for the presidency of the group". It added that Hollande had discussed the nomination with German chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday and that "Germany agrees with the French choice".

The paper added that three other names were on a government short-list: former ECB governor Jean-Claude Trichet, former Saint Gobain CEO Jean-Louis Beffa and former Air France CEO Bernard Attali.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; editing by Jane Baird)