VOA慢速英语2013 欧盟达成1.3万亿预算协议

 

EU Agrees to 1.3 Trillion Budget欧盟达成1.3万亿预算协议

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report in Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

European Union countries have struggled to find common ground as they worked out a budget agreement in Belgium this month. European leaders finally had success last week. They agreed on the European Union's multiannual financial framework, or MMF, for the period from 2014 to 2020.

欧盟国家一直在努力寻找共同点。本月，他们在比利时达成了一项预算协议。上周，欧盟领导人终于取得了成功。他们在欧盟2014年到2020年期间的多年度金融框架（简称MMF）上取得了一致。

The MMF sets the EU's total spending at $1.3 trillion. That represents one percent of the total income of EU members. Members agreed to reduce total spending by over three percent for the period. This is the first time spending cuts have been made.

MMF设定欧盟总支出为1.3万亿美元，这一数字代表着欧盟成员国总收入的1%。各成员国同意在此期间，把总支出降低3%以上。这是欧盟成员国首次作出削减开支的决定。

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy spoke¹ after the agreement was announced. He said the compromise budget may not be perfect. But he said it should help all EU members.

欧洲理事会主席范龙佩在协议公布后发表了讲话。他说，这项妥协预算可能并不完美，但它应该会对所有欧盟成员国有所帮助。

"Our support to the most vulnerable people remains² intact, so does our external action funding even despite the crisis. This budget will allow Europe to keep engaging on vital global issues such as climate change, nuclear safety and development aid."

他说，“我们对弱势群体的支持仍然保持不变，这还包括我们的对外行动拨款，哪怕是在经济危机中。这项预算方案将会使欧盟继续介入一些关键的全球性问题，如气候变化、核安全以及发展援助。”

German Chancellor³ Angela Merkel praised the long-term spending plan. She said the agreement makes policy more predictable and enables members to act in the interest of Europe.

德国总理默克尔称赞了这一长期支出计划。她表示，该协议使得政策更具可预测性，成员国也得以在欧洲利益上采取行动。

Some EU leaders have been calling for greater spending controls in their home countries. They wanted the EU to show that it is willing to cut costs.

一些欧盟领导人一直呼吁在本国进行更大规模的支出控制。他们希望欧盟表明其削减支出的意愿。

British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the agreement. Before the two-day meeting, he had threatened to veto the budget if there were no steps toward cutting spending.

英国首相卡梅伦对该协议表示了欢迎。在这次为期两天的会议之前，他曾威胁如果没有迈出削减支出的步伐，他就要投票否决这一预算方案。

"So I think the British public can be proud that we have cut the seven-year credit card limit for the European Union for the first time ever. And as a result the EU's seven-year budget will cost less than one percent of Europe's gross national income. That is also for the first time ever."

他说，“所以我认为，英国公众可以为此自豪，我们有史以来第一次削减了欧盟7年的信贷限额，结果欧盟7年的预算只会花费欧盟总国民收入的1%不到，这也是有史以来的第一次。

The European parliament still must approve the measure. But some parliament members say it fails to deal with problems like the sharp wealth differences between rich and poor. Guy Verhofstadt from Belgium is a member of the European parliament. He does not think the measure will pass.

该措施还必须经过欧洲议会批准。但一些议员表示，该协议未能处理一些问题，象贫富之间的巨大财富差距。来自比利时的Guy Verhofstadt是欧盟议会的议员。他认为该措施无法通过。

"I don't think that we shall have a majority in the parliament to approve this proposal...we are creating a big deficit⁴ of more than 50 billion euros and that is not acceptable."

“我认为该提案在议会中不会得到绝大多数同意。我们正在创造一个超过500亿欧元的巨大赤字，这是不能接受的。”

If approved, the measure will affect 28 European Union countries. The EU says Croatia is expected to join the group in July. 

如果该措施获得通过将影响到28个欧盟国家。欧盟表示，克罗地亚有望于今年7月加入欧盟。

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。