It is a cherished Brussels maxim that the European Union takes its greatest leaps forwards in a crisis— and then only after seve

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问题     It is a cherished Brussels maxim that the European Union takes its greatest leaps forwards in a crisis— and then only after several false starts.【F1】Thus for Euro-optimists, the fact that it has taken EU leaders nearly three months to deliver a promised rescue package for Greece is less important than the fact that on May 2nd the block finally leapt, setting in motion the biggest sovereign bail out plan in EU history.
    Meeting in Brussels, finance ministers from the 16 countries that use the single currency accepted the need to stump up more than ¢110 billion ($146 billion) over the next three years. In effect, the rescue funds will replace commercial borrowing from the financial markets between now and 2012.【F2】The hope is that will buy Greece time to bring its deficit under control through savage cuts in public spending: Greece has agreed to austerity measures worth 13% of national income over the next four years.
    So is this a big leap forward: the start of an economic union willing to transfer vast sums from rich regions to ropier members of the club, in the interests of all? For the moment, scepticism is in order.
    The pattern of the past three months has been a series of gambles by EU leaders.【F3】Their bet, each time, has been that a fierce enough political declaration will intimidate markets into backing away from a weak member of the club. This latest announcement looks different but it is not: it is just the biggest and fiercest declaration yet that markets should leave the eurozone alone.
    There is more political will to defend the eurozone than there was three months ago. But there is not a trillion euros worth of political will out there.【F4】That is mostly because this is such a dynamic crisis: EU political will to act has deepened and strengthened over the past three months, and continues to do so. But the strengthening of EU political will has not kept pace with the worsening of the crisis.
    All that means this does not (yet) look like a great leap forwards.【F5】Noting that Greece is going to have to make deep and painful cuts to public sector pay and benefits while raising taxes sharply, Mrs. Merkel, the German chancellor, said those harsh terms would deter other euro zone countries from getting into similar pickles. Other heavily indebted governments would "see that Greece’s path, with the IMF’s strict terms, is not easy, so they will do everything to avoid that for themselves."
【F5】

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答案注意到希腊在大幅度增加税收的同时却将不得不大力削减公共部门的薪水和津贴,德国总理默克尔夫人说,这种苛刻的条件将会阻止其他欧元区国家陷入同样的困境。

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