European Commissioner-Designate for Justice, Security to Ste

 

By Sabina Castelfranco

Italy's European commissioner¹-designate, Rocco Buttiglione, announced Saturday he has agreed to withdraw from the incoming new executive, to help the European Commission president-designate assemble a new team. His nomination² as justice and security commissioner had been strongly opposed by a large number of European parliament deputies.

The European commissioner-designate for justice and security, Rocco Buttiglione, Saturday described himself as an innocent victim of an orchestrated campaign, but refused to elaborate.

Mr. Buttiglione declared he was prepared to step aside to favor the path of the president-designate of the commission, Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso. Mr. Buttiglione said Europe today needs a strong commission that will work with the parliament and governments to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by the Constitution.

The new European Union constitution was signed in Rome Friday by all 25 member states, and will now require ratification³ by each of them, before it can take effect in 2007.

Mr. Buttiglione's announcement was made just hours after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi indicated he was withdrawing him as Italy's nominee⁴ for the justice commissioner post.

Mr. Buttiglione, a staunch Catholic, ran into fierce opposition⁵ in the EU parliament by saying homosexuality was a sin, and that marriage was for women to have children. Mr. Barroso, the commission's president-designate had decided⁶ to withdraw his line-up Wednesday, when he saw it faced almost certain rejection⁷.

Addressing a packed news conference, Mr. Buttiglione said he planned to step down for the good of the commission.

"I was ready to resign earlier," he said. "I had prepared my letter of resignation on the 26th, hoping that it might settle the argument and allow the Barroso commission to be voted on the 27th."

Mr. Buttiglione added he had not sent the resignation letter, because the leader of the European Popular Party, Jan Hans Poettering, had asked him to stay on, or the party planned to withdraw its support to the Barroso commission.

Mr. Buttiglione is now likely to remain in government as European Affairs Minister. Italian newspapers reported that the likely candidate for the post of European commissioner is Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. If that scenario⁸ is confirmed, Deputy Premier⁹ Gianfranco Fini is widely expected to also take on the Foreign Ministry¹⁰ portfolio¹¹.

Sabina Castelfranco, VOA news, Rome.
注释：
oppose 反对
victim 牺牲者
orchestrated 精心策划的
elaborate 详细阐述
take advantage of 利用
ratification 批准
take effect 生效
staunch 坚定的
Catholic 天主教徒
resignation 辞职
stay on 继续停留
portfolio 部长职务

1 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。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

4 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

8 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

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。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。