欧洲－德国的重新统一为欧盟扩张树立榜样

 

German Reunification Provides Lessons for

EU Expansion

 

In 1989, Germany removed the barbed wire that had divided the country for a near 50-year face-off during the Cold War. Optimism abounded¹ as many scholars and politicians speculated that economic, political and cultural barriers between East and West would disappear nearly as quickly as the wire fences. The government invested large sums of money -- more than 1.5 trillion euros to date -- and every working West German paid a new solidarity² tax to help finance the endeavor.

 

Michael Werz: It was a mistake to believe that if one invests enough money that finally these two societies would somehow get used to each other and would be economically productive again. That has not been the case.

 

That’s Michael Werz, a political professor at the University of Hannover.

 

He says the dream of a unified³ Germany remains⁴ somewhat unfulfilled. Most economist⁵ agree that the transfer of former West Germany's costly⁶ welfare system boosted East German living standards but hurt work force competitiveness, leaving the jobless rate in some eastern cities as high as 20% and many young people continue to leave for the West.

 

Professor Werz adds that a lack of incentives⁷ also helped fostered today's Eastern German malaise.

 

Michael Werz: If you look at the German example, everything has been done or wasn’t done for the East Germans. There was a new bureaucracy and political system implemented⁹ in Eastern Germany. Everybody that had no job was subsidized by the state. There were basically very limited decisions that East Germans could actually make.

 

Other Central Europeans have the chance to choose how to create economic and democratic structures over the last fifteen years. Many were rewarded with full European Union membership last year -- increasing the EU population by nearly a quarter to 455,000,000.

 

Professor Werz: The other Eastern European societies had to figure out things by themselves and with a greater degree of intellectual political, economic independence, and I think that in the long run that will serve them quite well.

 

Although many Central and East Europeans are optimistic about their future, not all feel welcomed by the West and some still face discrimination. Matthius Rueb, Washington bureau chief for the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, cites a positive lesson that Western EU countries could learn from German reunification.

 

Matthius Rueb: People from Western Germany said to their brethren in Eastern Germany: 'You make us one and full again. We've waited for you for decades and now you're here. We are so proud you're here.' The same actually would apply for Europe. Europe was as divided as Germany was. So why has there been so little talk about how proud we are that you Hungarians, Poles, Czech, Slovaks -- and later on Serbs and Croats -- that you are back in Europe?

 

Mr. Rueb says Western Europe should do a better job of welcoming the East.  He believes that without such enthusiasm, support for EU integration¹⁰ will dwindle¹¹ on both sides of the former Iron Curtain. Many countries face looming¹² economic crises and troubled welfare systems. He says it's crucial that a united Europe believes they can face these problems together.

 

But Dieter Dettke, Executive Director of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a German political organization promoting transatlantic dialogue, says there is still strong support for integration among East Europeans.

 

Dieter Dettke: We would try to enlarge the European Union German-style, we would all be overwhelmed by the economic consequences of such a procedure. If you try to make it too costly, then you lose support in the old member states and that's what we can't afford.

 

Mr. Dettka believes EU expansion will be easier than German reunification. University Hannover Professor Michael Werz agrees but concludes that both sides of Europe must be willing to create a new set of cultural, political and economic values rather than simply grafting¹⁴ a western model onto the East.

 

Dieter Dettke: It is qualitatively¹⁵ a new situation which will change both parts of Europe -- the eastern part, but the western part as well. And people have to be open-minded on both sides of the former wall.

 

While the newest 10 EU member states such as Hungary, Poland and Slovenia continue to adjust and work through membership growing pains, other future candidates including Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, will try to learn lessons from them.

 

For Focus, this is Brent Hurd.

 

注释：

barbed wire 带刺铁丝网

speculate [5spekju7leit] vi. 推测，思索

welfare [5welfZE] n. 福利

malaise [mA5leiz] n. 不快，不舒服

bureaucracy [bjuE5rCkrEsi] n. 官僚机构

implement⁸ [5implimEnt] vt. 贯彻，实行

subsidize [5sQbsidaiz] v. 资助，津贴

discrimination [dis7krimi5neiFEn] n. 歧视

Hungarian [hQN5^ZEriEn] n. 匈牙利人

Slovak [5slEuvAk] n. 斯洛伐克人

dwindle [5dwindl] v. 缩小

consequence [5kCnsikwEns] n. 结果

graft¹³ [^rB:ft] n. 嫁接，移植

1 abounded   

v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Get-rich-quick schemes abounded, and many people lost their savings. “生财之道”遍地皆是，然而许多人一生积攒下来的钱转眼之间付之东流。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Shoppers thronged the sidewalks. Olivedrab and navy-blue uniforms abounded. 人行道上逛商店的人摩肩接踵，身着草绿色和海军蓝军装的军人比比皆是。 来自辞典例句

2 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

3 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

4 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。

5 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。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 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

8 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

9 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

10 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

11 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

12 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

13 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

14 grafting   

嫁接法，移植法

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。
• Burns can often be cured by grafting on skin from another part of the same body. 烧伤常常可以用移植身体其它部位的皮肤来治愈。

15 qualitatively   

质量上

参考例句：

• In other words, you are to analyze them quantitatively and qualitatively. 换句话说，你们要对它们进行量和质的分析。
• Electric charge may be detected qualitatively by sprinkling or blowing indicating powders. 静电荷可以用撒布指示粉剂的方法，予以探测。