France's new President Hollande walks with Paris mayor Delanoe during the traditional visit to the City Hall.(Agencies)
French leader Francois Hollande's new Socialist government got down to work on Thursday with the first order of business a symbolic 30 percent pay cut for the president and ministers.
Following the cabinet's inaugural meeting, spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said the salary reduction was to "set an example" as the government looks to tackle France's troubled public finances.
The move was also aimed at drawing a distinction between Hollande and former president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose gross salary famously increased by 170 percent to 21,300 euros ($27,000) per month after he took office in 2007.
The gross salaries of Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will fall to 14,910 euros per month, while ministers' gross salaries will drop from 14,200 euros to 9,940 euros per month.
The head of the main opposition centre-right UMP party, Jean-Francois Cope, denounced the salary cut as a "sham", noting that the new government had 34 members -- 14 more than Sarkozy's first cabinet in 2007.
"Decreasing salaries by 30 percent cannot hide the simple fact that Francois Hollande's government will cost a lot more to the taxpayer," he said in a statement.
However Sarkozy's last government had 31 members including ministers and secretaries of state.
Senior ministers said the government's first concern would be to tackle the European debt crisis and push Hollande's vow to shift the European Union's economic focus from austerity to growth.
"The priority is to disentangle the crisis in Europe," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told news channel BFMTV. "I am profoundly European but we need a different Europe, a Europe that is much more focused on jobs."
Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici reiterated that Paris would not ratify the EU's fiscal austerity pact if it does not include measures to boost growth.
Moscovici also gave assurances that the Socialists would keep public finances under control.
"I want to be very clear, Francois Hollande has said it repeatedly, we must tackle the public debt, reduce deficits, and secure France's situation. That is fundamental, a country that runs up debt is a country that is getting poorer."
法国新任总统弗朗索瓦-奥朗德带领社会党政府本周四正式履新，首项政策即宣布对总统和所有内阁部长一律减薪30%。
在内阁就职会议后，女发言人娜贾•瓦洛-贝勒卡西姆表示，在政府寻求解决法国面临的公共财政困难之际，减薪措施“树立了榜样”。
此举是为了将奥朗德同前任总统萨科齐区分开来，后者在2007年就任总统后，就把总统薪金增加了170%，达到每月2.13万欧元(合2.7万美元)。
奥朗德和总理让马克-埃罗的工资总额降至每月14910欧元，内阁部长的工资总额从每月14200欧元降至9940欧元。
主要反对党、中右派人民运动联盟的领袖让-弗朗索瓦-科普认为减薪是个“骗局”，指出新政府有34位内阁成员，比萨科奇2007年初就任时多出14名。
他在一份声明中说：“奥朗德的政府会花纳税人更多的钱，减薪30%也不能掩盖这一简单的事实真相。”
但萨科奇离任时，内阁成员已达31人，包括内阁部长和政府秘书。
高级部长表示，法国政府的首要考虑是解决欧债危机，以及推动奥朗德的竞选承诺，把欧盟的经济焦点从节约转向促进经济成长。
法国外长洛朗•法比尤斯告诉新闻频道BFMTV，“政府的优先要务是化解欧洲的危机。我完全是个欧洲人，但我们需要一个全然不同的欧洲，一个更加专注于就业的欧洲。”
法国财政部长皮埃尔-莫斯科维奇强调，除非欧盟财政紧缩条约的内容包括推动经济成长的措施，否则法国不会核准。
莫斯科维奇也承诺说，法国社会党会把公共财政支出控制好。
他说：“我想说清楚，奥朗德已反复重申，我们必须应对公共债务、削减赤字、稳定法国的局面。这些都是最根本的，一个债台高筑的国家只会越来越穷。”
sham: 骗局，虚伪