中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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France's new President Hollande walks with Paris mayor Delanoe during the traditional visit to the City Hall.(Agencies) |
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French leader Francois Hollande's new Socialist government got down to work on Thursday with the first order of business a symbolic 30 percent pay cut for the president and ministers. Following the cabinet's inaugural meeting, spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said the salary reduction was to "set an example" as the government looks to tackle France's troubled public finances. The move was also aimed at drawing a distinction between Hollande and former president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose gross salary famously increased by 170 percent to 21,300 euros ($27,000) per month after he took office in 2007. The gross salaries of Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will fall to 14,910 euros per month, while ministers' gross salaries will drop from 14,200 euros to 9,940 euros per month. The head of the main opposition centre-right UMP party, Jean-Francois Cope, denounced the salary cut as a "sham", noting that the new government had 34 members -- 14 more than Sarkozy's first cabinet in 2007. "Decreasing salaries by 30 percent cannot hide the simple fact that Francois Hollande's government will cost a lot more to the taxpayer," he said in a statement. However Sarkozy's last government had 31 members including ministers and secretaries of state. Senior ministers said the government's first concern would be to tackle the European debt crisis and push Hollande's vow to shift the European Union's economic focus from austerity to growth. "The priority is to disentangle the crisis in Europe," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told news channel BFMTV. "I am profoundly European but we need a different Europe, a Europe that is much more focused on jobs." Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici reiterated that Paris would not ratify the EU's fiscal austerity pact if it does not include measures to boost growth. Moscovici also gave assurances that the Socialists would keep public finances under control. "I want to be very clear, Francois Hollande has said it repeatedly, we must tackle the public debt, reduce deficits, and secure France's situation. That is fundamental, a country that runs up debt is a country that is getting poorer." (Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
法國新任總統(tǒng)弗朗索瓦-奧朗德帶領(lǐng)社會黨政府本周四正式履新，首項政策即宣布對總統(tǒng)和所有內(nèi)閣部長一律減薪30%。 在內(nèi)閣就職會議后，女發(fā)言人娜賈?瓦洛-貝勒卡西姆表示，在政府尋求解決法國面臨的公共財政困難之際，減薪措施“樹立了榜樣”。 此舉是為了將奧朗德同前任總統(tǒng)薩科齊區(qū)分開來，后者在2007年就任總統(tǒng)后，就把總統(tǒng)薪金增加了170%，達到每月2.13萬歐元(合2.7萬美元)。 奧朗德和總理讓馬克-埃羅的工資總額降至每月14910歐元，內(nèi)閣部長的工資總額從每月14200歐元降至9940歐元。 主要反對黨、中右派人民運動聯(lián)盟的領(lǐng)袖讓-弗朗索瓦-科普認為減薪是個“騙局”，指出新政府有34位內(nèi)閣成員，比薩科奇2007年初就任時多出14名。 他在一份聲明中說：“奧朗德的政府會花納稅人更多的錢，減薪30%也不能掩蓋這一簡單的事實真相。” 但薩科奇離任時，內(nèi)閣成員已達31人，包括內(nèi)閣部長和政府秘書。 高級部長表示，法國政府的首要考慮是解決歐債危機，以及推動奧朗德的競選承諾，把歐盟的經(jīng)濟焦點從節(jié)約轉(zhuǎn)向促進經(jīng)濟成長。 法國外長洛朗?法比尤斯告訴新聞頻道BFMTV，“政府的優(yōu)先要務(wù)是化解歐洲的危機。我完全是個歐洲人，但我們需要一個全然不同的歐洲，一個更加專注于就業(yè)的歐洲。” 法國財政部長皮埃爾-莫斯科維奇強調(diào)，除非歐盟財政緊縮條約的內(nèi)容包括推動經(jīng)濟成長的措施，否則法國不會核準。 莫斯科維奇也承諾說，法國社會黨會把公共財政支出控制好。 他說：“我想說清楚，奧朗德已反復重申，我們必須應(yīng)對公共債務(wù)、削減赤字、穩(wěn)定法國的局面。這些都是最根本的，一個債臺高筑的國家只會越來越窮。” 相關(guān)閱讀 （中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Julie 編輯：陳丹妮） |
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Vocabulary: sham: 騙局，虛偽 |
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