欧元的命运

The Fate of the Euro

欧元的命运

 

For the last three years, the Euro has been one of the strongest currencies in the world, in part, because of the belief that the underlying¹ political structure of the European Union was strong.

 

However, in the days after French and Dutch voters rejected the Constitution, many analysts² began to speculate about the future of the European Union because of eroding³ voter support for the new constitution's "one size fits all" approach to government.

 

Most analysts say French voters were worried about losing jobs to low cost labor⁴ from other member states, and Dutch voters were said to be concerned about losing influence in an expanded bloc⁵.

 

In Italy, where the economy is now in a recession, some politicians have suggested returning to the Lira and dumping the Euro.

 

Nonetheless, Alisdair Murray, Deputy Director of the Center for European Reform in London, says the common currency will weather this crisis. 

 

Alisdair Murray: The rules of engagement are already set. They weren't going to be changed by the constitutional treaty, so this is really about mood going forward rather than anything specific the treaty would have provided that was necessary for the Euro to work more efficiently⁶.

 

France's new Prime Minister says fighting unemployment -- now at more than 10% -- will be the top priority of his new government. But he does not say what he will do and whether his plan will follow guidelines from the European Central Bank, which coordinates⁷ monetary⁸ policy in the Euro Zone.

 

Economist⁹ Alisdair Murray says French and Dutch voters are also concerned that their governments are moving too quickly with economic reforms such as changing rules about the length of the workweek.

 

Alisdair Murray: You have to go into a period of reflection. This is going to cause a lot of hard thinking about why European leaders have become so disconnected from their electorate¹⁰. While the French and the Dutch may have been the ones to turn it down, they are not the only ones who would have turned it down if everybody would have voted.

 

Ian Stewart, Chief Economist for Europe in the London office of the U.S. investment company Merrill Lynch, says the vote against the proposed constitution was also a backlash against the European Commission's plans to liberalize trade rules. He says in France, the real concern was that the country would be flooded with cheaper labor from Eastern Europe, bringing down wages.

 

The Euro became the common currency in 12 EU countries at the beginning of 2003. Ralph Bryant, an economist at the Brookings Institution here in Washington, says many economists¹¹ feel the European Monetary Union may have happened too quickly given the diverse nature of the countries, which have surrendered their decision making to a European Central Bank.

 

Ralph Bryant: My view was that they were taking a big gamble. Unemployment is high in one part of Europe and not so high in others. Europe is too heterogeneous¹² in its economic development to make a single currency and a common monetary policy be very comfortable for all parts of Europe.

 

The likelihood that France and the Netherlands will abandon the Euro and the European Monetary Union is remote, although many political analysts say voters did send a clear message that they are unhappy with the way their governments are dealing¹³ with economic reforms.

 

Even in Germany, where the unemployment rate is nearly 12%, reform minded Chancellor¹⁴ Gerhard Schroeder suffered a major political setback¹⁵ over his handling of the economy. His ruling party recently lost a key election in North Rhine-Westphalia prompting him to call elections for this fall -- a year earlier than planned.

 

Meanwhile, the European Union is expected holds a summit next week in Brussels to discuss how to deal with voter rebellion against the Constitution.

 

For Focus, I am Paul Westpheling.

 

注释：

underlying [5QndE5laiiN] adj. 基础的，基本的

constitution [7kCnsti5tju:FEn] n. 宪法

recession [ri5seFEn] n. 不景气

lira [5liErE] n. 里拉（意大利货币单位）

weather [5weTE] v. 平安渡过，经受住

monetary policy 货币政策

reflection [ri5flekFEn] n. 反省，沉思

investment [in5vestmEnt] n. 投资

backlash [5bAklAF] n. 对抗性反应，反对

heterogeneous [7hetErEu5dVi:niEs] adj. 不一致的

Netherlands [5neTElEndz] n. 荷兰

setback [5setbAk] n. 挫折

1 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

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 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

7 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

9 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。

10 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

11 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 heterogeneous   

adj.庞杂的；异类的

参考例句：

• There is a heterogeneous mass of papers in the teacher's office.老师的办公室里堆满了大批不同的论文。
• America has a very heterogeneous population.美国人口是由不同种族组成的。

13 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

14 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。

15 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。