Parts of southern Europe really do exist in a different dimension. In salary terms, Portugal’s year has two extra months. Most employees get their monthly salary or wage, and extra payments in the summer and at Christmas. The government wanted to remove one of the two bonus payments as part of austerity measures to meet the terms of its €78bn bailout agreed in 2011. But the constitutional court has struck down the move, and three others. The ruling could derail Portugal’s ability to return to the financial markets. If the government is smart, it will use the setback to get more serious about structural reform.
南欧部分国家确实存在不同的情况。从薪资的角度来看，葡萄牙的一年多出了两个月。多数员工每月得到薪水，并在夏季和圣诞节获得额外薪资。作为紧缩举措的一部分，葡萄牙政府希望取消这两笔额外奖金之一，以满足2011年商定的780亿欧元纾困协议的条款。但该国宪法法院否决了此举以及其他3项措施。这一裁决可能会让葡萄牙丧失回归金融市场的能力。如果葡萄牙政府聪明的话，它会利用此次挫折更严肃地对待结构性改革。