Links at French-Germany Border, but Divergent Economies
法德邊境相連 經濟景況大異
By Steven Erlanger

SÉLESTAT, France – This ancient town in the center of Alsace has an unemployment rate of about 8 percent.
法國阿爾薩斯區中部古鎮塞拉達斯失業率約8%。

Emmendingen, a German town of 27,000 that is only slightly larger than Sélestat and barely 30 kilometers away, has an unemployment rate of under 3 percent.
人口2.7萬的德國艾曼丁根鎮面積僅略大於塞鎮，與塞鎮相距約僅30公里，失業率不到3%。

Among those under 25 years of age, the unemployment rate in Sélestat is 23 percent; in Emmendingen, it is 7 percent.
25歲以下人口的失業率，塞鎮高達23%，艾鎮是7%。

The divergent economic circumstances of these two towns are striking, particularly given the cross-border cultural ties in the region. The reasons for the disparities, much debated, have emerged as a focal point of the French presidential campaign.
兩個小鎮的經濟差距令人驚訝，尤其是考慮到該地區邊界兩邊文化關係如此密切。差距形成的原因言人人殊，已成為法國總統大選的一個焦點競選話題。

Fighting for his re-election, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has said that the French should become more like the Germans. If re-elected, Mr. Sarkozy proposes a national referendum to approve a more flexible labor market, featuring a German-style apprenticeship. He wants to allow more part-time work, like the Germans, and to subsidize more jobs for youth and raise the value-added tax to reduce the cost of social-welfare charges for employers, as the Germans do, too.
尋求連任的法國總統沙克吉曾經說，法國人應該向德國看齊。他說，如果連任，他將舉辦全國公投，以打造更有彈性的勞動市場，以德國式學徒制為其主要特色。他主張如德國人般開放更多部分時間工作，為更多年輕人從事的工作提供補助，同時提高加值稅，以降低雇主的社會福利負擔，一如德國。

Germany has maintained its industrial base and competitive edge, while France lacks a large sector of medium-size industrial enterprises and depends much more on services. But while many French admire the Germans, they do not want to emulate them.
德國一直保有工業基礎與競爭力，法國則缺少大量的中型企業，對服務業的依賴程度也高了許多。誠然有許多法國人對德國人讚賞有加，可是他們卻無意效法。

“We appreciate their rigor and discipline, but that’s not all there is in life,” said Alexandre Boer, 52, who works here in Sélestat with young people facing long-term unemployment. “We’re not in 1945 anymore. That was also the German model.”
52歲的波爾與面臨長期失業的塞鎮年輕人一起工作。他說：「我們欣賞他們的一絲不苟與紀律，然而那不是生命的全部。1945年已經一去不返。那時候也是德國模式。」

Nevertheless, Mr. Sarkozy is betting that the problems in the French economy, where youth unemployment is 23 percent nationwide and exports are declining, are so profound that voters will overcome their deep-seated reluctance and be more receptive to at least a variation on the German model, which would include longer hours and less job security.
儘管如此，沙克吉打的算盤是，在全國青年失業率達到23%，出口不斷減少的局面下，法國經濟問題之嚴重可讓選民克服心理障礙，至少接受略加調整的德國模式，包括工時更長，工作保障更低。

Boris Gourdial, director of the Freiburg branch of the German Federal Employment Agency, said that mentalities were different, despite shared history and proximity. “The French work to live and the Germans live to work,” he said.
德國聯邦就業局傅萊堡分處處長古迪爾指出，儘管塞鎮與艾鎮擁有共同的歷史，位置也非常接近，兩地的人心態卻南轅北轍。他說：「法國人為了生活而工作，德國人為了工作而活著。」

His French colleague Roxane Pierrel, who runs the employment office in Sélestat, points out that the French have more children than the Germans and more women are in the work force, which swells the numbers looking for work. But she acknowledges that the Germans are doing better at job training for young people.
他的法國同行蘿珊妮‧皮雷爾負責塞鎮的就業服務處。她指出，法國人子女比德國人多，女性就業的人數也比較多，導致覓職人數大增。不過她也承認，德國年輕人的職業訓練做得比法國好。

The German apprenticeship system takes young people out of the university track at 16 and trains them in industrial skills, as they simultaneously study for a technical degree and work for a salary. They often get full-time jobs with companies that have invested in training.
德國學徒制讓年輕人16歲時離開升大學之路，接受產業技能訓練，邊修技術學位邊賺薪水。他們通常可在投資於訓練的企業獲得全職工作。

But many French parents and their children still regard a vocational degree or apprenticeship – instead of a university degree – as a sign of stupidity or failure, Ms. Pierrel said.
皮雷爾指出，許多法國家長及其子女仍然認為，只有職業學位或學徒身分而沒有大學學位，是愚鈍或失敗的象徵。

“We have to convince young people, since it’s not well accepted in the family,” she said. In France, “it means being a bad student. In Germany, it doesn’t devalue someone.”
她說：「我們必須說服年輕人，因為這種安排無法見容於家庭。在法國那意味你是壞學生。在德國這不會貶抑任何人。」

But she is beginning to see a change, she said. “Companies here are working with schools to promote apprenticeships,” and more young people see the advantage of a salary at a decent job as preferable to unemployment.
不過她表示已經開始看到改變。她說：「本地一些公司已經開始與學校攜手推動學徒制。」更多年輕人認為，有薪的正當工作總強過失業。

Marcel Bauer, the mayor of Sélestat and its 21,000 people, also sees a change. He says he is proud of the local apprenticeship system, which he thinks should be developed in the rest of France. But unlike in Germany, where the states and localities can set many of their own rules, in France, he said, “the national Education Ministry wants to keep all control.”
塞鎮鎮長鮑爾與2.1萬居民同樣看到了改變。他說當地的學徒制令他引以為傲，認為這套制度應該在法國全面推廣。不過他說，不同於德國各邦與地方可自訂許多規則，法國「教育部凡事一把抓」。

Mr. Bauer bemoans the constant labor warfare in France. “German workers accept that they must make efforts in a crisis, and work less and earn less to keep their jobs.” But “with us,” he said, “it’s an immediate battle and a strike and people in the streets.”
法國勞資爭議不斷令鮑爾慨嘆。他說：「德國勞工願意在危機時期共體時艱，為保住飯碗而減少工時與收入。然而在法國，立刻就會出現一場抗爭、罷工，以及街頭示威。」

Mr. Bauer, mayor since 2001, has also been promoting more bilingual classes, so local students will learn some German. He has been trying to promote more regional partnership with the Germans, including with Emmendingen’s mayor, Stefan Schlatterer.
2001年起擔任鎮長的鮑爾同時積極推廣更多雙語課程，讓當地學生學些德語。他一直努力加強與德國人之間的區域夥伴關係，包括與艾鎮鎮長席拉特勒之間的夥伴關係。

“I feel the center of the European idea is the really close partnership between France and Germany,” Mr. Schlatterer said.
席拉特勒說：「我認為，歐洲信念的核心就是法國與德國之間的密切夥伴關係。」

“When France and Germany are close to one another, Europe works.”
「法德兩國關係緊密，歐洲就可以運作如恆。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/world/europe/when-a-border-shapes-more-than-territory.html

Slideshow: Two Towns, Two Contrasting Models
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/03/03/world/europe/20120304-BORDER.html

2012-03-20聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報八版上