VOA慢速英语2018--意大利与欧盟的预算之争

Italy, the EU Prepare for Budget Battle

The European Union (EU) and Italy are disputing which side has control over the country’s budget.

Recently, the EU ordered Italy to change its proposed budget for 2019. The EU wants the Italian government to produce a new budget proposal in three weeks.

The EU said the Italian government’s proposal breaks earlier promises the country made to lower its public debt.

Italy’s debt is the second-highest in Europe, after Greece. EU officials worry that if Italy fails to reduce its debt, Europe could face financial problems like those that followed Greece’s financial crisis.

The Italian government says the large increase in spending is needed to help start growth in the country’s stagnant¹ economy.

However, EU Commission Vice² President Valdis Dombrovskis said, “We…request the Italian government to revise its…budgetary plan.”

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has answered, “No one will take one euro from this budget.”

Europe’s common money can be a problem

The conflict shows an important problem within the EU. Nineteen member-states share the same money, the euro. However, each of those country’s governments makes its own budget. And the EU has been unwilling³ to demand that some countries reduce spending.

The EU learned that its whole economic group is threatened when just one country has serious financial problems. That is what happened with Greece about 10 years ago. The Greek economy still has not fully⁴ recovered.

Italy's economy, however, is far bigger.

The EU said it had to demand a new budget after Italy proposed a budget deficit⁵ of 2.4 percent. That means the deficit for the year would be 2.4 of the country’s GDP, or gross domestic product. A country’s GDP is the value of all goods and services produced within its border in one year.

With its current proposal, Italy would not keep its promise to lower its total debt. Italian public debt is over 130% of its GDP. That is more than twice as high as the EU permits its member-nations.

EU Financial Affairs Commissioner⁶ Pierre Moscovici said Italy’s budget would hurt its own people by forcing young people to pay back its debt in the future. The cost of paying Italian public debt is already equal to the country’s education spending of 65 billion euros a year.

“Italy must continue its effort to lower its debt because it is the enemy of the economy,” he said.

Italy argues that spending increases growth. The extra money was promised in the last election to nearly 400,000 older Italians whose retirements⁷ were pushed back. It also is meant to help the unemployed⁸.

“We won’t let you down…we will not give up,” Deputy Premier⁹ Luigi Di Maio wrote on Facebook.

Di Maio and Salvini have taken a strong position against the EU demands hoping for strong popular support. Other officials, including the country’s economy minister, have said they are willing to have talks with the EU commission.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

stagnant - adj. not moving forward, still

revise – v. to change or redo

deficit – n. an amount of money that is less than is needed

1 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 retirements   

退休( retirement的名词复数 )； 退职； 退役； 退休的实例

参考例句：

• We've had two retirements in our office this year. 今年我们办公室已有二人退休。
• Those may take the form of sackings redundancies, temporary layoffs or retirements. 这些形式有开除，作为编余人员，暂时解雇或退休。

8 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

9 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。