2020年经济学人 欧盟贸易(1)

If the Trump¹ administration's America is the bully² of the global trading system,

如果特朗普政府领导下的美国是全球贸易体系的恶霸，

the European Union is the finger-wagging school prefect.

那么欧盟就是指手画脚的学校学长。

Instead of threatening tariffs³, its leaders have called for countries to play fairly.

其领导人没有威胁要征收关税，而是呼吁各国公平竞争。

As a trade war has raged between America and China, the EU suggested a rules-based solution.

随着美国和中国贸易战争愈演愈烈，欧盟提出了一个基于规则的解决方案。

When the Trump administration wrecked⁴ the system of solving disputes at the World Trade Organisation⁵ (WTO),

当特朗普政府破坏了WTO的争端解决机制时，

the EU led the search for a fix. As the world's biggest exporter of services and second only to China for goods,

欧盟带头寻找解决办法。作为世界上最大的服务出口国和仅次于中国的商品出口国，

it has a sizeable stake in preserving order.

欧盟在维持秩序方面有相当大的利害关系。

Enter Phil Hogan, the EU's burly trade commissioner⁶ since December 2019.

自2019年12月起担任欧盟贸易专员的菲尔·霍根登场了。

The EU is still a stickler⁷ for rules and the multilateralism that Mr Hogan says is "in our DNA⁸". But he wants to wield⁹ a bigger stick.

欧盟仍然坚持规则和多边主义，霍根称多边主义“存在于我们的DNA中”。但他想展现出欧盟更大的威力。

"We have to stand up for our rights more assertively¹⁰ and aggressively, in my view," he tells The Economist¹¹.

他告诉《经济学人》，“在我看来，我们必须更坚定、更积极地捍卫我们的权利。”

By this he means defending the EU against unfair trading practices.

他的意思是保护欧盟免受不公平贸易行为的侵害。

The challenges range from concerns about China's state-led system of capitalism¹²

这些挑战包括对中国政府主导的资本主义制度的担忧，

to fears that the EU's trading partners are not living up to their commitments.

以及对欧盟贸易伙伴没有兑现承诺的担忧。

Part of his brief involves continuing efforts to rescue the system by which the WTO solves disputes.

他的部分职责包括继续努力拯救世贸组织解决争端的体系。

Meanwhile he will have to manage the tense transatlantic relationship.

与此同时，他将不得不处理紧张的跨大西洋关系。

If the job was not daunting¹³ enough, he will help negotiate what he hopes will be an "amicable¹⁴" trade deal with Britain.

如果不够艰巨，他还将帮助与英国谈判，以达成他所希望的“友好”贸易协议。

Mr Hogan's reputation as a canny¹⁵ politician willing to make tough decisions—

作为一位精明的政治家，霍根愿意做出艰难决定的名声——

his nickname in Irish politics was "the enforcer"— suggests that he may be right for the job.

他在爱尔兰政界的绰号是“执法者”——意味着他或许很适合这个工作。

On behalf of his home county of Kilkenny, where he entered Irish politics at the age of 22, he haggled¹⁶ effectively

在22岁时进入爱尔兰政坛的他代表家乡基尔肯尼郡进行了有效的争论

(for example, ensuring that the region's salt depot¹⁷ was in Kilkenny, partly so that in case of ice the local roads would be salted first).

（例如，确保该地区的盐库位于基尔肯尼，部分原因是为了道路结冰时，当地的道路将首先获得盐）。

He is "no flat tyre", as one Leinster admirer puts it. Later he drew controversy¹⁸ when in 2011,

正如一位伦斯特省的仰慕者所言，他“没有泄气”。后来他在2011年引发争议，

as Ireland's Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government,

当时他是爱尔兰环境、社区和地方政府部长，

he was put in charge of introducing unpopular water charges. It damaged his reputation.

负责引入不受欢迎的水费收取政策。这损害了他的名声。

But as a consolation¹⁹ prize, the Irish government backed him as the EU's agriculture commissioner.

但作为安慰奖，爱尔兰政府支持他担任欧盟农业专员。

His experience over the following five years meant that he became intimately acquainted with the EU's most sensitive spots.

在接下来的五年里，他的经历意味着他对欧盟最敏感的地方了如指掌。

Alongside Cecilia Malmstrom, then the EU's trade commissioner, he boasts of concluding no fewer than 15 trade agreements.

他夸耀自己与时任欧盟贸易专员塞西莉亚·马尔姆斯特罗姆一道，达成了不少于15项贸易协定。

According to some of the negotiators who were on the opposite side of the table,

据坐在谈判桌另一边的一些谈判员所说，

while he could be both charming and funny, his strategies to avoid giving concessions²⁰ could be deeply frustrating²¹.

虽然他即迷人又风趣，但他避免让步的策略可能会让人非常挫败。

In some cases, he simply declined to show up.

在一些谈判中，他干脆拒绝出席。

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

3 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

4 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

5 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 stickler   

n.坚持细节之人

参考例句：

• She's a real stickler for etiquette,so you'd better ask her advice.她非常讲求礼节，所以你最好问她的意见。
• You will find Mrs. Carboy a stickler about trifles.您会发现卡博太太是个拘泥小节的人。

8 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

9 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

10 assertively   

断言地，独断地

参考例句：

• Using the right body language helps you communicate more assertively. 使用正确的肢体语言会帮助你更有主张力的交流。
• Learning to communicate assertively involves learning to be honest, open and direct. 果敢自信的交往方式的学习包括做到为人诚实、坦率和直言不讳。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

13 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

14 amicable   

adj.和平的，友好的；友善的

参考例句：

• The two nations reached an amicable agreement.两国达成了一项友好协议。
• The two nations settled their quarrel in an amicable way.两国以和睦友好的方式解决了他们的争端。

15 canny   

adj.谨慎的，节俭的

参考例句：

• He was far too canny to risk giving himself away.他非常谨慎，不会冒险暴露自己。
• But I'm trying to be a little canny about it.但是我想对此谨慎一些。

16 haggled   

v.讨价还价( haggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cook and the grocer haggled over the price of eggs. 厨师和杂货商为蛋价计较个没完。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After they had haggled for some time, the two men decided to close the bargain. 那两个人经过一番讨价还价以后，决定成交。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

18 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

19 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

20 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

21 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》