Van Rompuy re-elected as European Council President

 　　BRUSSELS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Top leaders of the European Union (EU) on Thursday all agreed to extend the mandate¹ of European Council President Herman Van Rompuy for another two and a half years during a summit in Brussels.

　　As the only candidate for the post, the former Belgian prime minister said immediately after the re-election in his Twitter postings that he was "honored" and that it was "a privilege to serve Europe in such decisive times, also a big responsibility."

　　The president was also elected as chairman of the projected "euro summit" under the upcoming "fiscal² compact" scheduled to be signed on Friday.

　　"I take this as a vote of confidence in the way we have worked together," said the president, adding that the sovereign debt crisis had shaped the role he held.

　　Van Rompuy, as the first president of the Council under the Lisbon Treaty that came into force in December 2009, has been preparing and chairing EU summits for the past 27 months, thus also in the spotlight³ of EU's handling of the eurozone debt crisis.

　　Some experts believe that his major achievement was providing continuity at a time of severe crisis, while he has also been representing the EU at the United Nations as well as international meetings, together with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

　　Van Rompuy said in a speech after the re-election that his first priority would remain the economy, and that his job was in a way "the guardian⁴ of trust."

　　The euro and the EU were "irreversible projects," he added.

　　According to EU law, the position of European Council President can only be renewed once by a qualified⁵ majority of EU leaders.

　　Van Rompuy's current mandate should end on May 31 this year while the second one will keep him in the position until the end of 2014.

1 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

4 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

5 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。