经济学人:纾困希腊?默克尔成压垮欧元的最后稻草(上)

 　　Germany’s obstinate¹ chancellor²

　　固执的德国总理

　　Angela Merkel, swimming instructor³

　　“游泳教练”安吉拉·默克尔

　　When it comes to the euro, the German chancellor prefers self-help to help—but she can be more flexible than she seems

　　德国总理在欧元问题上嘉勉自救胜过人救，不过她这个表面上的立场仍可通融。

　　WHEN warnings sound that the end of the euro is nigh, all eyes turn to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. Germany must “assume its part” in saving the currency, says Spain’s economy minister, Luis de Guindos. If there is rescuing to be done, Germany is the obvious rescuer. Yet rather than toss out the lifebelt, Mrs Merkel offers swimming lessons.

　　欧元瓦解的警报就将拉响，所有人的目光都聚焦在德国总理安吉拉.默克尔的身上。西班牙财政部长金多斯(Luis de Guindos)说，德国必须在拯救欧元的行动中“承担相应的责任”。若真有国家亟待救援，德国显然是拯救者。然而，默克尔女士却选择站在岸边教游泳，而非抛出救生圈。

　　She would find this characterisation unfair. Time and again she has taken stands against bail-outs only to relent. She balked⁴ at bailing⁵ out Greece and at a permanent rescue fund, and she vetoed the use of bail-out money to buy government bonds in the secondary market. In each case she gave in (too late,say critics).

　　默克尔女士也许会认为此般描述有失公正。她一次又一次地反对纾困， 到头来却总是松口让步。她在救助希腊和永久性救援基金上踌躇不决，还否决了利用纾困资金在二级市场上购买国库券。以上事件她都做出了妥协（可惜为时已晚，批评家如是说）。

　　By July she will push through parliament the European Stability Mechanism(ESM), the permanent fund she once opposed, and Europe’s fiscal⁶ compact.Germany’s capital contribution to the ESM will push its budget deficit⁷ from 26 billion($32 billion) to 35 billion. Germany’s potential liability, if all the money is lent and everyone defaults, could be 280 billion. But her partners want more: Eurobonds backed by all countries,more time for weak economies to meet deficit-reduction targets, direct lending to Spanish banks and a “banking union”, with Europe-wide deposit insurance.Will Mrs Merkel yield on these, too? Do not count on it.

　　7月前，默克尔将推动议会通过欧洲“财政契约”，以及她曾经反对的永久性援助基金——欧洲稳定机制（ESM）。德国向ESM的注资会将联邦政府的财政赤字从原来的260亿欧元（320亿美元）扩大至350亿欧元。如果德国投入的资金全部借出，且统统遭到违约，德国将会面临2800亿欧元的潜在负债风险。 然而，默克尔的同僚们想要的不止这些，他们希望发行所有成员国支持的“欧洲债券”，给疲软经济体更多时间，用以完成赤字削减目标，直接向西班牙银行贷款，以及成立带有欧洲通用的储蓄保险的“银行联盟”。默克尔女士是否也会此一一退让？别抱太大希望。

　　Despite her retreats, she sees herself as a defender⁸ of principle.Everything to which Germany has assented⁹ has been part of a bargain:peripheral countries get help, but only in exchange for reform. Aid from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the ESM’s precursor¹⁰, is conditional¹¹. Greek bail-outs came with crushing demands (which Greece may reject after its election on June 17th). The ideas urged by Francois Hollande, France’s new president, and Mario Monti, Italy’s primeminister, would break her principle, say the Germans. To introduce Eurobonds as a crisis-fighting measure would only encourage less creditworthy countries in their spendthrift ways. Similarly for centralised deposit insurance, which would enlist¹² German banks (and ultimately the state) as guarantors of other countries’ savings¹³.

　　尽管默克尔有所让步，她仍视自己为原则的卫道士。但凡德国赞成的，都是议价的一部分：外围国家获得救助的前提是，他们要进行改革。ESM的前身，欧洲金融稳定基金（EFSF）的救助款也有附加条件。纾困希腊伴随着一系列严酷的要求，而在6月17日大选后，希腊也有可能予以拒绝。德国方面称，法国新总统奥朗德（Francois Hollande）和意大利总理马里奥（Mario Monti）极力推崇的观点有违默克尔的原则。以欧洲债券作为抗危机措施，只会助长信誉度较低的成员国挥霍无度的气焰。设立中央储蓄保险的目的也亦如此。该储蓄保险会令德国的银行（继而整个德国）成为其他国家储蓄的担保人。

　　Such proposals “bear on the core issue: do debt and responsibility remain linked to each other?” asks Norbert Barthle, a member of the Bundestag from MrsMerkel’s Christian¹⁴ Democratic Union. Any instrument that severs¹⁵ the link wil lperpetuate the crisis. Besides, such measures are forbidden by Germany’sconstitution. That is not to say they can never happen. But they are imaginable only if the EU becomes more of a federal state, with a common fiscal policy anda parliament that reflects Germany’s share of the population. Mrs Merkel wants “more Europe”.But that requires “treaty changes, and we are not there yet today”.

　　此番提议“涉及的核心问题是：债务和责任间是否依旧存有联系？”，联邦议院议员，默克尔所属基民党的成员巴斯勒（Norbert Barthle）问到。任何隔断此种关联的工具都会使危机继续蔓延。此外，德国宪法明令禁止采取此类措施。这并不意味着该措施永无实现之日。只有欧盟成为一个联邦式的国家，具有统一的财政政策，并配有依据德国人口数分配席位的议会的情况下，才有实现可能。默克尔女士要的是“大欧洲”。但这需要“修改条约，而今我们还没走到那一步”。

1 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

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 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

4 balked   

v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑

参考例句：

• He balked in his speech. 他忽然中断讲演。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They balked the robber's plan. 他们使强盗的计划受到挫败。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 bailing   

（凿井时用吊桶）排水

参考例句：

• Both fountains were going furiously and both pumps bailing with might and main. 两个人的口水只管喷泉似地朝外涌，两个抽水机全力以赴往外抽水。
• The mechanical sand-bailing technology makes sand-washing operation more efficient. 介绍了机械捞砂的结构装置及工作原理，提出了现场操作注意事项。

6 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。

7 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

8 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

9 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

10 precursor   

n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆

参考例句：

• Error is often the precursor of what is correct.错误常常是正确的先导。
• He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他说该笔交易不应该被看作是合并的前兆。

11 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

12 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

13 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

14 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 severs   

v.切断，断绝( sever的第三人称单数 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• He shut his eyes to the severs reality. 对于这严峻的现实，他是闭着眼睛不肯看的。 来自《用法词典》
• It practically severs the Mediterranean. 实际上是将地中海分开。 来自辞典例句