首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Never has a straitjacket seemed so ill-fitting or so insecure. The Euro area’s "stability and growth pact" was supposed to stop
Never has a straitjacket seemed so ill-fitting or so insecure. The Euro area’s "stability and growth pact" was supposed to stop
admin
2013-01-12
84
问题
Never has a straitjacket seemed so ill-fitting or so insecure. The Euro area’s "stability and growth pact" was supposed to stop irresponsible member states running excessive budget deficits, defined as 3% of GDP or more. Chief among the restraints was the threat of large fines if member governments breached the limit for three years in a row. For some time now, no one has seriously believed those restraints would hold. In the early hours of Tuesday November 25th, the Euro’s fiscal straitjacket finally came apart at the seams.
The pact’s fate was sealed over an extended dinner meeting of the Euro area’s 12 finance ministers. They chewed over the sorry fiscal record of the Euro’s two largest members, France and Germany. Both governments ran deficits of more than 3% of GDP last year and will do so again this year. Both expect to breach the limit for the third time in 2004. Earlier this year the European Commission, which polices the pact, agreed to give both countries an extra year, until 2005, to bring their deficits back into line. But it also instructed them to revisit their budget plans for 2004 and make extra cuts. France was asked to cut its underlying, cyclically adjusted deficit by a full 1% of GDP, Germany by 1.8%. Both resisted.
Under the pact’s hales, the commission’s prescriptions have no force until formally endorsed in a vote by the Euro area’s finance ministers, known as the "Eurogroup". And the votes were simply not there. Instead, the Eurogroup agreed on a set of proposals of its own, drawn up by the Italian finance minister, Giulio Tremonti. France will cut its structural deficit by 1.8% of GDP next year, Germany by 0. 6%. In 2005, both will bring their deficits below 3%, economic growth permitting. Nothing will enforce or guarantee this agreement except France and Germany’s word. The European Central Bank (ECB) was alarmed at this outcome, the commission was dismayed, and the smaller Euro-area countries who opposed the deal were apoplectic: treaty law was giving way to the "Franco-German steamroller", as Le Figaro, a French newspaper, put it.
This anger will sour European politics and may spill over into negotiations on a proposed EU constitution. Having thrown their weight around this week, France and Germany may find other smaller members more reluctant than ever to give ground in the negotiations on the document. The EU’s midsized countries also hope to capitalize on this ressentiment. Spain opposes the draft constitution because it will give it substantially less voting weight than it currently enjoys. It sided against France and Germany on Tuesday, and will point to their fiscal transgressions to show that the EU’s big countries do not deserve the extra power the proposed constitution will give them.
The expression "This outcome" (Paragraph 3) means that______
选项
A、a set of new proposals will be in.
B、smaller countries oppose the deal.
C、some restraints are fading away.
D、the agreement is not guaranteed.
答案
D
解析
题干问:“这个表达‘This outcome’的意思是……”。正确选项为D“这个协议不可能得到保证”,这是一个语境的归纳题,定位在第3自然段。而选项A“一些新的建议将会受到欢迎”,选项B“小国家反对这个做法”和选项C“某些限制正在失去效用”都不是这个表达在上下文的含义。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/Ar9O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Theremediesproposedfordealingwiththesituationoreonly______promisesforactionforthefuture.
YellowNationalPark’sattractionsincludethe.famousOldFaithfulgeyser,vastforests,______wildlife,andwell-maintainedc
Althoughmostbirdshaveonlya______senseofsmell,theyhaveacutevision.
Thereisnodenyingthatstudentsshouldlearnsomethingabouthowcomputerswork,justasweexpectthematleasttounderstand
Newdatahas______thatthedamagetotheozonelayerisnotconfinedtothesouthernhemisphere.
Despiteongoingnegotiationswithitsunions,UnitedAirlineshastoldthebankruptcycourtthatthe"likelyresult"willbead
HethoughthecouldtalkMr.Robinson______buyingsomeexpensiveequipment.
However,growthinthefabricatedmetalsindustrywasableto______someofthedeclineintheironandsteelindustry.
Tocontrolqualityandmakingdecisionsaboutproductionareamongthemanyresponsibilitiesofanindustrialengineer.
Themotoristhadto______toavoidknockingtheoldwomandowninthemiddleoftheroad.
随机试题
四边孔
1950年6月,中国共产党为争取国家财政经济状况的基本好转而召开的重要会议是()
下列属于输出设备的是_______。
在夏季施用有机磷农药,出现中毒症状,在急诊室进行处理时,首选措施是
下列属于单位工程投入使用验收工作内容的是()。
银行存款余额调节表中,银行对账单余额应减去企业已收银行未收。()
值班备勤是要求各级公安机关在任何时候、任何情况下,始终处于常备不懈的戒备状态,坚守岗位,履行职责,按时交接班,保持公安工作的连续性、有序性,维护良好的社会秩序。()
结合材料回答问题:材料1习见平强调,“一带一路”建设是我国在新的历史条件下实行全方位对外开放的重大举措、推行互利互赢的重要平台。我们必须以更高的站位、更广的视野,在吸取和借鉴历史经验的基础上,以创新的理念和创新的思维,扎扎实实做好各项工作使沿线各国人民
设D:χ2+y2≤R2,则=_______.
将数据库的结构划分成多个层次,是为了提高数据库的逻辑独立性和
最新回复
(
0
)