Mon Kapitano...... the parachutes are definitely for pansies, which as we all know, all French are.
Wearing a parachute, as in WWI, may well reduce morale amongst the team and lead to premature "surrender" followed by costly abandonment of the aircraft. Better to make them ride it down like real men.
On the other hand, it may have something to do with the 1994 crash of an A330 aircraft during testing (engine-out go-arounds) which killed 7, including the Airbus chief test pilot. Parachutes would not have helped them but if they weren't in use beforehand, crashing a testbed would certainly be a good incentive to up the standards of safety a little further.