Merkel: Eurozone Often Failed to Keep Economic Promises

Merkel: Eurozone Often Failed to Keep Economic Promises

 German Chancellor¹ Angela Merkel says that too often countries in Europe's euro currency bloc² have failed to keep their promises for economic reforms, leading to worries that their debts will not be repaid.

She said at an industrial conference in Berlin on Tuesday that Europe needs to consider how it can regain³ the world's confidence.

"There is a lack of confidence on financial markets that some eurozone states can pay back their debts in the long term. The world wonders how competitive eurozone countries are," said Merkel. "We in Europe need to ask ourselves how we can regain lost trust. Too often, promises have been made in Europe, which in the end were not kept.''

As she spoke⁴, there were new signs of economic turmoil⁵ in the 17-nation eurozone.

The Standard & Poor's financial ratings service predicted the bloc's economy would contract eight-tenths of one percent this year, slightly worse than it projected two months ago.

Short-term borrowing costs for debt-ridden Spain surged amid concerns that Madrid might be forced to secure an international bailout, just as Greece, Ireland and Portugal already have.

And in Greece, unions representing government workers, teachers, lawyers and other professions called for a national strike Wednesday to protest the government's latest austerity budget measures.

Some European leaders have called for tighter banking⁶ control throughout the eurozone as one way to gain control over the continent's finances. Merkel said she supports stronger banking supervision⁷ and recapitalization of troubled banks, but only if she has the right to intervene when there are problems.

"One cannot talk about the direct recapitalization of banks in other countries without requisite⁸ intervention⁹ possibilities. That means step-by-step [reforms] and in the right order and not rushed," said Merkel.'

1 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。

2 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

3 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

4 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。

5 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

6 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

7 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

8 requisite   

adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the requisite qualifications for the job.他不具备这工作所需的资格。
• Food and air are requisite for life.食物和空气是生命的必需品。

9 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。