2020年经济学人 欧盟——填充金库(1)

Nothing in this world is certain, mused¹ Benjamin Franklin, except death and taxes.

世界上没有什么是确定的，本杰明·富兰克林沉思地说到，除了死亡和税收。

He never had to contend with the European Union's unanimity² rule.

他从不需要应付欧盟的一致同意规则。

Eurocrats have long sought to bolster³ the EU's budget with "own resources"—

欧盟的官员一直以来都想用“自由资源”支撑欧盟预算——

ie, revenues that accrue⁴ to it, rather than cash handed over by member countries on the basis of national income.

即应计收入，而不是成员国根据国民收入上交的现金。

But almost every attempt to centralise taxation⁵ has fallen foul⁶ of a national veto. The last big reform to EU revenues was over three decades ago.

但几乎每一次将税收集中化的尝试都遭到了国家的否决。上一次欧盟财政收入的重大改革还是在30多年前。

Some think the club's coming borrowing splurge will revive the debate.

一些人认为欧盟即将进行的大举借债将重新引发争论。

On July 21st the EU's 27 national leaders agreed to allow the European Commission to borrow up to 750bn euros ($880bn)

7月21日，欧盟27国领导人同意让欧洲委员会借款7500亿欧元（即8800亿美元）

and dish out the proceeds, more than half in the form of grants, to help countries recover from the covid-19 recession.

并分配收益，其中大部分将以补助的形式用于帮助各国从covid-19衰退中恢复。

Repayment⁷ will start in 2028; new "own resources", the leaders said, should contribute. Once-sceptical members are now keener.

还款将于2028年开始；“自有资源”，各国领导人表示，应该有所贡献。曾经持怀疑态度的成员们现在变得更热衷。

"Countries see more concretely that taxes will either have to be collected by the EU or included in national contributions,"

“各国更具体地看到，税收要么必须由欧盟征收，要么必须包含在国家贡献中，”

says Mario Monti, a former Italian prime minister who led an inquiry⁸ into own resources in 2017.

意大利前总理马里奥·蒙蒂说到，他曾在2017年领导了对自有资源的调查。

For fans of "more Europe", common taxes on top of common debt would mark a decisive step towards fiscal⁹ union.

对于“亲欧派”粉丝而言，在共同债务之上再加共同税收，将标志着朝着财政联盟迈出决定性的一步。

An EU levy¹⁰ on plastic waste may funnel¹¹ 7bn euros a year towards the budget from 2021. But beyond that, the commitment is thin.

从2021年开始，欧盟每年对塑料垃圾征税可能为预算注入70亿欧元。但除此之外，承诺单薄。

The logic¹² of vetoes has not changed, notes Eulalia Rubio at the Jacques Delors Institute, a think-tank.

否决权的逻辑没有变，智囊团Jacques Delors Institute的Eulalia Rubio注意到。

Every proposal is opposed by one government or another. One idea is to direct revenues from the EU's carbon-trading scheme to Brussels.

每个提议都会被一个或另一个政府所反对。一个提议是将欧盟碳交易计划的收入直接转移到布鲁塞尔。

But that might deprive national treasuries¹³ of income; Germany and Poland are sceptical.

但这可能会剥夺各国国债的收入；德国和波兰表示反对。

Another idea is a "single-market" tax on companies. But the Dutch and the Irish are reluctant to squeeze firms.

另一个想法是对企业征收“单一市场”税。但荷兰和爱尔兰不愿意压榨企业。

1 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

2 unanimity   

n.全体一致，一致同意

参考例句：

• These discussions have led to a remarkable unanimity.这些讨论导致引人注目的一致意见。
• There is no unanimity of opinion as to the best one.没有一个公认的最好意见。

3 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

4 accrue   

v.(利息等)增大，增多

参考例句：

• Ability to think will accrue to you from good habits of study.思考能力将因良好的学习习惯而自然增强。
• Money deposited in banks will accrue to us with interest.钱存在银行，利息自生。

5 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

6 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！

7 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

8 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

9 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。

10 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

11 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

12 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

13 treasuries   

n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库

参考例句：

• Yields on Treasuries, Bunds and gilts can remain at historically low levels. 美国国债、德国国债和英国国债的收益率仍然可以维持在历史低位。 来自互联网
• Treasuries and gold rose in response but the dollar fell sharply. 接着，国债和黄金的价格上涨，而美元价格则猛跌。 来自互联网