2018年经济学人 欧元区改革: 中肯的提议(1)

 

The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, likes to compare the euro zone to a house in need of repair.

欧洲委员会主席让-克洛德·容克喜欢将欧元区比作一幢需要修补的房子。

Fix the roof, he counsels, while the economic weather is favourable¹.

他建议在经济气象良好时，修补屋顶。

Leaders from across the European Union will have the opportunity to take that advice

欧洲委员会各国各领导人将有机会采纳该建议

when the European Council meets in Brussels on June 28th-29th.

6月28至29日期间，他们将在布鲁塞尔会面。

In preparation Emmanuel Macron, France's president, and Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor²,

法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙以及德国总理安格拉·默克尔

laid out joint³ proposals for reforms on June 19th.

在6月19日的提交了改革联合提案。

The result of weeks of ministerial negotiation⁴, they reconciled long-standing differences on the future of the currency bloc⁵

通过几周的内阁谈判，他们在货币同盟未来发展的长存差异上达成和解

and set the scene for discussion at the wider summit. In a victory for Mr. Macron, the Germans have consented to a euro-zone budget.

并为接下来的峰会讨论做准备。在马克龙取得的胜利中，德国已经就欧元区预算达成同意。

In other areas, notably⁶ banking⁷ reform, progress is likely to be halting.

其他各区进展，尤其是银行改革进展似乎停滞不前。

The reforms aspire⁸ to mend the institutional weaknesses revealed during the years following the financial crisis.

改革是希望在金融危机结束后的几年中修复制度上暴露的缺陷。

Lacking control over interest rates and the ability to devalue their currencies,

由于缺乏对利率的管控以及贬值货币的能力，

some countries struggled to cope with violent economic shocks.

一些国家在猛烈的经济冲击中挣扎。

Some, like Greece, were stuck in a "doom⁹ loop" where wobbly banks destabilised the governments supporting them,

一些国家，比如希腊，陷入了一种“厄运循环”之中，风雨飘摇的银行使支持他们的政府开始动摇，

which in turn weakened the banks holding government bonds.

反过来动摇的政府又使持有政府债券的银行更加弱化。

To be fair, the bloc has already done quite a lot.

公平的说，货币同盟已经做了很多努力。

At the height of the crisis, a bailout fund was cobbled together for emergency lending to countries that lost access to capital markets.

在危机高潮时期，货币同盟出台救助资金用于修补给予各国的紧急援助借贷，这些借贷国家丧失了进入资本市场的能力。

In 2012 the euro zone agreed to establish a banking union to contain risks and break the doom loop.

2012年，欧元区同意建立一个银行联盟以牵制风险并打破这种厄运循环。

The European Central Bank now supervises all the euro zone's systemically important banks.

如今欧洲中央银行监管所有欧元区的重要体系银行。

If a bank needs winding¹⁰ down, the Single Resolution Board provides short-term funding and imposes losses on creditors¹¹, limiting the cost to the taxpayer¹².

如果银行需要放慢步伐，单一清算委员会就会提供短期基金并对债权人征收损耗，限制纳税人的成本。

But more than five years on, banking union remains¹³ incomplete.

但是五年多过去了，银行联盟仍不完备。

Mr. Macron is keen both to push through those remaining reforms, and to go further.

马克龙渴望促成剩下的那些改革，也希望更进一步。

His proposal for a euro-zone budget aims to ensure members' economies continue to converge¹⁴ and to help those buffeted¹⁵ by external events.

他提议的欧元区预算旨在确保成员国的经济得以继续汇聚并帮助那些受到外部事件冲击的成员国。

New prime ministers in Italy and Spain appear to agree.

意大利和西班牙的新任首相似乎同意他的提议。

The Germans, Dutch and Nordics, however, resist the pooling of risks across the bloc.

而德国、荷兰以及北欧人拒绝承担同盟国间的风险汇合。

They worry that fiscally¹⁶ prudent¹⁷ countries would end up subsidising profligate¹⁸ ones.

他们担心财政节省的成员国最终会肆意挥霍补助金。

Italy, where an earlier version of the new governing coalition¹⁹ seemed to scorn the euro zone's spending rules, will not have reassured²⁰ them.

意大利早期新成立的执政同盟似乎对欧元区的支出策略表示鄙视，而现在意大利将无法消除他们的疑虑。

1 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

2 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

5 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

6 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

7 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

8 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

9 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

10 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

11 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 converge   

vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近

参考例句：

• The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
• Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。

15 buffeted   

反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去

参考例句：

• to be buffeted by the wind 被风吹得左右摇摆
• We were buffeted by the wind and the rain. 我们遭到风雨的袭击。

16 fiscally   

在国库方面，财政上，在国库岁入方面

参考例句：

• Nor will fiscally stretched governments pump more money into the political equivalent of a leper colony. 财政吃紧的政府也不愿将更多的钱投入这个避之唯恐不及的政治瘟疫区。
• We are more fiscally constrained, which forces us to work smarter and more efficiently. 与F-15相比我们资金上的限制更大了，美女类小游戏，这迫使我们更为精心和有效地工作。

17 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

18 profligate   

adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者

参考例句：

• This young man had all the inclination to be a profligate of the first water.这个青年完全有可能成为十足的浪子。
• Similarly Americans have been profligate in the handling of mineral resources.同样的，美国在处理矿产资源方面亦多浪费。

19 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

20 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》