In a speech to (the) French Senate Tuesday, President (Sarkozy) outlined a raft of areas he believe should be overhauled in France to make the country more competitive. And he argued, better (attuned) to workers' needs, their reforms include further easing the requirement for the 35-hour work week - considered one of the shortest in Europe.

在星期二的一次对议会的讲话中，法国总统萨科齐概述了许多他所认为法国需要革新的地方，以使得法能更具竞争力。 并且他主张要更好地满足工人的需求，政府的改革包括进一步放松每周工作35小时的要求，而这种工作时间在欧洲是最短的。

(Sarkozy) also announced he would scrap pension perks given to (certain) workers, including those in the gas, electricity and public transportation sectors. Those perks (allow) some employees to retire early and receive pension premiums.

萨科齐总统同时还宣布将废除对某些工人的养老金优惠政策，这类工人包括燃气、电力及公共交通部门人员。这些优惠政策允许部分职工可以提前退休、获得额外投保养老金。

The president said these benefits might have been justified decades ago - when such jobs were more difficult and dangerous. But not anymore. (Previous) governments have failed to overhaul the system, he said, his would not.

萨科齐总统表示这些受益在几十年前有可能是正当合理的，当时这类工作比较艰苦、危险，但今后再也不会这样了。他称，上届政府没能对此制度进行革新，而他不会这样。

Trimming retirement (privileges) is an (explosive) issue in France. Efforts to do so (helped) bring down one (previous) (conservative) government, in 1995. But (Sarkozy) (vowed) his government would talk with labor (unions and) other concerned parties before trying to push through legislation. A poll published in the conservative (Le Figaro) newspaper Tuesday showed the majority of French (believeing) efforts to (reform) the pension system is risky, but that it's also a good idea.

退休待遇的削减在法国是个极具争论的难题，在这方面的努力在1995年曾有助于击垮过前保守派政府。但萨科齐总统承诺，在努力通过立法来推行该政策前，他的政府将会与工会及其他有关政党进行交流。周二，一项在保守派Le Figaro报刊刊登的民意调查显示，大多数法国人认为，努力对养老金制度进行改革是风险之举，但它同时也是一个好的想法。