Sarkozy Lays Out Vision on Eurozone Reforms

 　　French President Nicolas Sarkozy made an impassioned appeal for saving the euro currency union and outlined the broad framework of what he thinks must be done. Sarkozy's speech in the southern city of Toulon comes as the clock ticks down to finding a solution to the eurozone crisis, which France and Germany vow¹ to do.

　　President Sarkozy offered a grim assessment² about the state of France - and of Europe - at a time of shrinking growth, rising deficits³ and growing fears of the eurozone imploding⁴. He spoke⁵ a week ahead of a key summit of European leaders who are facing mounting pressure to come up with a strong, bold and comprehensive solution to the eurozone crisis after what many believe is a series of half measures throughout the year.

　　In a televised speech before a packed audience in the industrial city of Toulon, Sarkozy tied France's future to the 17-nation eurozone. He said the disappearance⁶ of the euro currency union would have dramatic consequences on the country, doubling French debt.  Everything would be paralyzed.  The French would be impoverished⁷, he said.

　　France and Germany - Europe's two heavyweights - have vowed⁸ to come up with a plan to save the euro by the year's end - most likely by next week's European Union summit. Sarkozy laid out his ideas for dealing⁹ with the eurozone debt crisis.

　　He said Europe needs more solidarity¹⁰ - but he added solidarity also demands fiscal¹¹ discipline among member nations.  He also pushed for more of what he called "convergence" among eurozone members and for reforming the EU's two-year-old governing Lisbon treaty.

　　But Sarkozy left out many details - and experts and officials say key differences remain between  French and German visions of rescuing the eurozone. Germany has also been championing stronger fiscal discipline among member nations - to the point of giving European authorities the power to reject national budgets that breach¹² EU rules.

　　Experts like Karel Lannoo of the Center for European Policy Studies believe France would reject ceding¹³ so much national authority to Europe.

　　"Whether France would accept giving away some powers to a super administration - the the EU or to the [European] Commission - is another question," said Lannoo.

　　For its part, Germany rejects the idea beefing up the European Central Bank to become a lender of last resort - an idea France supports. In his speech, Sarkozy left the bank's future open, but said it would remain independent.

　　German Chancellor¹⁴ Angela Merkel is outlining her views of Europe's future in a speech before the German parliament on Friday. The two leaders also hold talks on Monday - just three days before the EU summit.

　　Whether Europe's leaders will come out with a far-reaching plan to save the currency zone is anybody's guess.

　　"It is likely they will come up with something but it depends very much on the details of this plan and the political support of that and on the credibility this plan will have with the markets…and we are running out of time at the moment. So it might be far too late," said analyst¹⁵ Paola Subacchi, of the London think-tank Chatham House.

　　But as far is Sarkozy is concerned, the alternative - the implosion¹⁶ of the eurozone - is unthinkable.

1 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

4 imploding   

v.（使）向心聚爆( implode的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He has nightmares about the tanks imploding. 他老是做油箱爆炸的噩梦。 来自辞典例句
• Just like silver stars imploding we absorb the light of day. 身披白昼之圣光光没银星俱裂亡。 来自互联网

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

7 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

11 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

12 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

13 ceding   

v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was ceding line but more slowly all the time. 他正在放出钓索，然而越来越慢了。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
• Settlement would require ceding some Egyptian territory. 解决办法将要求埃及让出一些领土。 来自辞典例句

14 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

15 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

16 implosion   

n.向内破裂，内爆

参考例句：

• The population explosion is accompanied by a population implosion.人口爆炸还伴随着人口爆聚。