经济学人:欧非贸易 政治风向的转变难预测(1)

 　　Finance and Economics 财经

　　Afirca-EU Trade: Blown off course 欧非贸易：偏离主旨

　　Another trade deal adrift. 另一项贸易协定又难以尘埃落定。

　　The winds that waft¹ along the Swahili coast change direction with the seasons, a boon² to traders in times past. 斯瓦希里海岸那随着季节改变的风向是过去商人的福音。

　　Shifts in the political winds are harder to predict. 而政治风向的转变更难预测。

　　Last July a proposed trade deal between five countries of the East African Community (EAC) and the EU was thrown into disarray³ when Tanzania backed out at the last minute. 去年七月，东非共同体（EAC）和欧盟五个国家之间的一项拟议中的贸易协议因为坦桑尼亚最后一刻的退出而陷入混乱。

　　An EAC summit, scheduled for months ago, was meant to find a way forward. 旨在找到一条前进的道路，几个月前召开了EAC峰会。

　　Held at last on May 20th in Dar es Salaam⁴, after many postponements, only two presidents showed up. 去年5月20日在达累斯萨拉姆举办，经过多次延期，只有两位总统出席。

　　The deal is in the doldrums. 协议停滞不前。

　　The pact⁵ is one of seven “Economic Partnership⁶ Agreements” (EPAs) the EU wants to sign with regional groups in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. 该协议是七个“经济伙伴关系协定”(EPAs)中欧盟希望与非洲区域集团，加勒比海和太平洋地区共同签署的一个。

　　The first was agreed with the Caribbean in 2008; southern Africa followed suit last year. 加勒比海在2008年最先同意；非洲南部跟着在去年进入。

　　But progress in west Africa has also stalled, with Nigeria raising objections. 但因为尼日利亚提出反对，西非的发展也停滞不前。

　　The EPAs were promoted as a new breed of trade deal, and were supposed to bring development and regional co-operation. EPAs曾被宣传为一个新的贸易方式，并带来发展和区域合作。

　　So far they have brought neither. 到目前为止这些都没实现。

　　Negotiations⁷ on EPAs began in 2002. 2002开始了关于经济伙伴关系协议(EPA)的谈判。

　　Under previous conventions, the EU gave favourable⁸ market access to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, most of them former colonies. 根据以往的惯例，欧盟给予非洲、加勒比和太平洋国家有利的市场准入，这些国家大多是他们的前殖民地。

　　That fell foul⁹ of World Trade Organisation¹⁰ rules. 这违反了世界贸易组织规则。

　　Hence the idea of EPAs: reciprocal deals, requiring both parties to open their markets. 因此EPAS的理念：互惠协议，要求双方开放市场。

　　Two obstacles have to be surmounted¹¹. 这样必须克服两个障碍。

　　First, EPAs overlap¹² with existing trade arrangements. 首先，EPAs与现有的贸易协定重叠。

　　The poorest countries, like Tanzania, already enjoy duty-free and quota- free access to the EU under an initiative called “Everything But Arms”. 最穷的国家，像坦桑尼亚，在“一切，除了武器”的倡议下，已经享有免税和配额自由进入欧盟市场。

　　That could one day be withdrawn¹³, but at present they see little to gain by opening their markets. 这一天可能会被撤销，但目前他们认为开放市场并没有什么好处。

　　Second, countries within the same region face different incentives¹⁴. 第二，同一地区的国家面临不同的激励。

　　Take Kenya, richer than Tanzania and not eligible¹⁵ for Everything But Arms. 以肯尼亚为例，比坦桑尼亚富裕，但没有“一切，除了武器”的特权。

　　It ratified¹⁶ the EPA last year and needs others to do so for the deal to come into force. 它去年正式批准了EPA，并且需要其他国家这么做，以使协议生效。

　　It recalls the pain of 2014, when the EU briefly¹⁷ slapped tariffs¹⁸ on its exports, such as cut flowers, and is frustrated¹⁹ by Tanzanian foot-dragging. 当肯尼亚回顾它2014的痛苦：欧盟简单粗暴地增加其货物（如鲜花）的出口关税；还有坦桑尼亚那折磨人的决定延迟。

1 waft   

v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡

参考例句：

• The bubble maker is like a sword that you waft in the air.吹出泡泡的东西就像你在空中挥舞的一把剑。
• When she just about fall over,a waft of fragrance makes her stop.在她差点跌倒时，一股幽香让她停下脚步。

2 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

3 disarray   

n.混乱，紊乱，凌乱

参考例句：

• His personal life fell into disarray when his wife left him.妻子离去后，他的个人生活一片混乱。
• Our plans were thrown into disarray by the rail strike.铁路罢工打乱了我们的计划。

4 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

5 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 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。

9 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

10 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。

11 surmounted   

战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上

参考例句：

• She was well aware of the difficulties that had to be surmounted. 她很清楚必须克服哪些困难。
• I think most of these obstacles can be surmounted. 我认为这些障碍大多数都是可以克服的。

12 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

13 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

14 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

15 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

16 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

17 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

18 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。

19 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》