More Europe or less?

大歐洲還是小歐洲？

The EU must move closer together—or let states save themselves

歐盟必須更緊密地團結起來，否則就讓各國自生自滅吧

Mar 19th 2020 |

“MORE EUROPE” is the invariable mantra for the European Union’s most devout believers. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is particularly fond of the phrase, usually as a solution to the pressing geopolitical questions of the day. The answer to a rising China? More Europe. A response to a wayward Washington? More Europe. “The world is calling for more Europe,” declared Mrs von der Leyen after her selection last summer. “The world needs more Europe.”

“更多的歐洲”是歐盟最虔誠的信徒們不變的口頭禪。歐盟委員會總統(tǒng)的Ursula von der Leyen特別喜歡用這個詞，通常用來解決當今緊迫的地緣政治問題。也許這就是中國崛起的秘訣?更多的歐洲。用來回擊任性的華盛頓？更多的歐洲。“世界在呼喚更大的歐洲，”von der Leyen女士在去年夏天當選后宣稱?！笆澜缧枰蟮臍W洲?！?/p>

詞匯

mantra /口頭禪；頌歌

wayward/任性的；不規(guī)則的；剛愎的

Faced with the covid-19 pandemic, however, the commission has so far opted for a different tactic: less Europe. It has focused on getting the EU out of the way of national governments. Fiscal rules are being quietly abandoned, allowing national governments to spend heroic amounts to allay the crisis. State-aid rules, which stop governments from flooding pet businesses with cash, are being loosened. Some €37bn ($41bn) of funds earmarked for the structural projects that make up the humdrum daily business of the EU budget can be spent on keeping people alive instead.

然而，面對covid-19疫情，歐盟委員會迄今選擇了一種不同的策略:縮小歐洲。它一直致力于讓歐盟擺脫國家政府的束縛。財政規(guī)則正悄然被拋棄，允許各國政府大舉支出以緩解危機。阻止政府向寵物企業(yè)注入大量現(xiàn)金的國家援助規(guī)定正在放松【這里pet businesses不知道有沒有其他意思，但字面就是寵物/獸業(yè)】。（歐盟）撥出約370億歐元(合410億美元)用于結構性項目的資金，這些資金用于補給歐洲各國使得人們正常生活的資金預算。

詞匯

Heroic/夸張的

Humdrum/單調的；無聊的

Budget/預算

From one perspective, covid-19 torpedoes the logic of “more Europe”. At its heart was a belief that a body like the EU is the only means of survival in a globalised world. In comparison, the bog-standard nation-state—developed to fend off the miserable Hobbesian state of nature—seems dated and almost vulgar. A pandemic, however, is a nasty blast from this ugly past. The EU evolved to deal with a post-modern world, where borders blurred and markets ruled. Pandemics are a pre-modern problem, best solved by the tool that brought order to a brutish world: the modern state.

從一個角度來看，covid-19顛覆了“更多歐洲國家”的邏輯。它的核心是一種信念，即像歐盟這樣的機構是在全球化世界中生存的唯一手段。相比之下，為了抵御悲慘的陷入泥潭的自然狀態(tài)而發(fā)展起來的標準的民族國家似乎過時了，而且?guī)缀跏怯顾椎?。然而，流感爆發(fā)是這段丑陋歷史的一次可怕沖擊。歐盟的演變是為了應對一個邊界模糊、市場主導的后現(xiàn)代世界。流行病是一個前現(xiàn)代的問題，最好的解決方法是給這個野蠻的世界帶來秩序的工具:現(xiàn)代國家。

詞匯

Torpedo/破壞

Bog/陷于泥潭，動彈不得

Hobbesian/霍布斯主義（“性惡論”，主權在君主張）

fend of/避開

vulgar/粗俗的；通俗的

nasty/極差的；惡心的

brutish/ ?粗野的；殘忍的

Keeping people safe is, after all, a state’s primary concern. Health is the purview of national governments, according to the EU’s treaties. Previous European crises festered in the cracks between national and EU responsibility. Monetary union without a fiscal union left a wound that turned gangrenous. Introducing a passport-free Schengen zone without a functioning European asylum system was another example of half-baked federalism. Often, Brussels is left with responsibility for a topic but not the power to do anything. In this case, responsibility is clear. The actions of national governments will determine how many live or die. Complaining that the EU is failing to help on health matters is akin to buying a cat and moaning when it will not fetch a stick.

畢竟，保證人民的安全是一個國家的首要任務。根據(jù)歐盟條約，衛(wèi)生是各國政府的職責范圍。之前的歐洲危機在國家責任和歐盟責任的夾縫中潰爛。沒有財政聯(lián)盟的貨幣聯(lián)盟留下的傷口已經(jīng)變成了壞疽。引入免護照的申根區(qū)，卻沒有一個有效的歐洲庇護體系，是另一個不成熟的聯(lián)邦制的例子。通常，留給布魯塞爾的是一個議題的責任，而不是做任何事情的權力。在這種情況下，責任是明確的。各國政府的行動將決定有多少人生存或死亡。抱怨歐盟沒能在健康問題上提供幫助，就像買了一只貓，卻為它不能把棍子銜回來而抱怨。

詞匯

Purview/范圍，權限

Fester/潰爛

Asylum/庇護；收容所

Gangrenous/ ?壞疽的，腐敗的

When not pursuing “l(fā)ess Europe”, the EU can be most efficient by maintaining the same amount of Europe. Each country will simultaneously face colossal strains on its health service. A functioning single market can churn out medical equipment more efficiently than states going every man for themselves. Yet already accusations of hoarding are flying, while traffic jams build up on intra-EU frontiers after panicky border closures. If goods disappear and markets collapse in a crisis, then old-fashioned autarky starts to appeal and the allure of the EU’s slick trading system fades. Keeping national governments from actively working against one another would be triumph enough for Brussels.

當不追求“更小的歐洲”時，歐盟可以通過維持同樣數(shù)量的歐洲來達到最高效率。每個國家的醫(yī)療服務將同時面臨巨大的壓力。一個運轉良好的單一市場能夠比那些每個人都為自己服務的國家更有效地生產醫(yī)療設備。然而，關于囤積的指控已經(jīng)滿天飛，而歐盟內部在恐慌的邊境關閉后，邊境上的交通堵塞也越來越嚴重。如果商品消失，市場在危機中崩潰，那么老式的自給自足就會開始吸引人，歐盟靈活的貿易體系的吸引力就會消失。對布魯塞爾來說，阻止各國政府積極地相互對抗就已經(jīng)是足夠的勝利了。

詞匯

Colossal/巨大的；異常的

churn out/艱苦地做出；大量炮制

autarky/自給自足

allure/引誘力

For the optimists, however, this is a perfect moment for the “more Europe” mantra. So-called coronabonds would allow struggling euro-zone states to fund themselves with debt guaranteed by the bloc as a whole. Such an idea is often floated as a cure for the euro-zone’s ills. Countries such as Italy, whose borrowing costs have shot up, love the idea; those who would probably end up paying, such as the Netherlands and Germany, have historically been far less keen. Attitudes could shift. A pandemic comes without the moral baggage of borrowing and the caricatures of feckless Italians running up debts. It is a natural disaster, endured by all.

然而，對于樂觀主義者來說，這是“更歐洲化”口號的完美時刻。所謂的“coronabond”將允許苦苦掙扎的歐元區(qū)國家用整個歐元區(qū)擔保的債務為自己提供資金。這種想法經(jīng)常被認為是治療歐元區(qū)弊病的良方。意大利等借貸成本飆升的國家喜歡這個主意;那些最終可能會付出代價的國家，如荷蘭和德國，在歷史上遠沒有這么熱心。態(tài)度轉變。沒有借貸的道德包袱，也沒有無能的意大利人欠下債務的漫畫，這次疫情就來了。這是一場自然災害，所有人都要承受。

The European Central Bank, based in Frankfurt, has now done its bit for “more Europe”. It launched a €750bn bond-buying programme late on 18th March. Unlike with earlier schemes from the central bank, Greece’s debt, previously excluded, will be eligible for purchase. After bungling her initial response to the crisis, ECB chief Christine Lagarde issued a belated guarantee: “There are no limits to our commitment to the euro.” The statement was a homage to the mantra of her predecessor, Mario Draghi, who said he would do “whatever it takes” to save the euro.

總部位于法蘭克福的歐洲央行(ecb)如今已為“更歐洲化”盡了自己的一份力。3月18日晚些時候，歐洲央行啟動了7500億歐元的債券購買計劃。與之前歐洲央行的計劃不同，此前被排除在外的希臘債務將有資格購買。歐洲央行行長克里斯蒂娜?拉加德(Christine Lagarde)在對危機最初的應對不力之后，發(fā)表了一份遲到的保證:“我們對歐元的承諾是無限的。”這一聲明是對她的前任馬里奧德拉吉(Mario Draghi)的頌歌的致敬。德拉吉曾表示，他將“不惜一切代價”拯救歐元。

Yet not all EU leaders are as happy to seize the “more Europe” moment. Some are chomping at the bit. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, applauded the ECB and called for “greater financial solidarity” in the euro zone. Other leaders were muted. In meetings behind closed doors, EU leaders agreed to stick with the “whatever it takes” formulations beloved by the ECB but have offered few actions to back up the words. At the moment, the phrase is used in the same way children say “open sesame!”. Monetary policy is only one half of the solution. A co-ordinated fiscal response at a European level is still necessary for leaders to dig themselves out. It is not guaranteed to happen.

然而，并非所有歐盟領導人都樂于抓住“更歐洲化”的時機。有些人等不及了。法國總統(tǒng)埃馬紐埃爾?馬克龍(Emmanuel Macron)對歐洲央行表示贊賞，并呼吁歐元區(qū)“加強金融團結”。其他領導人保持沉默。在閉門會議中，歐盟領導人同意堅持歐洲央行所鐘愛的“不惜一切代價”的措辭，但幾乎沒有采取什么行動來兌現(xiàn)承諾?，F(xiàn)在，這個短語和孩子們說“芝麻開門”的用法一樣。貨幣政策只是解決方案的一半。各國領導人仍有必要在歐洲層面采取協(xié)調一致的財政應對措施，以擺脫困境。而這不一定能辦妥。

Leviathan unleashed

利維坦的邏輯

If European leaders spurn “more Europe” on the fiscal level, then at least they should remove the manacles that fetter Leviathan. Shackling the state was not some Lilliputian scheme by small-minded bureaucrats. The EU has reined in the worst impulses of national governments, first in the name of peace, by binding economies so closely together that war was impossible; then, with the aim of prosperity, by stopping them running huge deficits or pouring mad amounts of money into airlines because they have the national flag on the tail-fin. Deficits and bungs are petty concerns in the face of mass death. The state must be unbound.

如果歐洲領導人在財政層面上拒絕“更大的歐洲”，那么他們至少應該解除束縛利維坦的枷鎖。束縛國家的不是那些心胸狹窄的官僚們的小人國計劃。歐盟以和平的名義，將各國經(jīng)濟緊密地捆綁在一起，使戰(zhàn)爭成為不可能;然后，以繁榮為目標，通過阻止它們出現(xiàn)巨額赤字或向航空公司投入巨額資金，因為它們的尾鰭上掛著國旗。面對大規(guī)模死亡，財政赤字和財政漏洞都是雞毛蒜皮的小事。國家必須擺脫束縛。

詞匯

Shackle/束縛；桎梏

Lilliputian/小人國的

Covid-19 will offer the most brutal test not of the EU but of Europe’s member-states. Without the EU finally binding itself together fiscally, it will be left to individual states to write the cheques that stop their economies choking. It will be states that deal with the sick. It will be states that take the blame from the bereaved. “More Europe” offers a tantalising solution to the EU’s latest crisis. But “l(fā)ess Europe” must also have its role. ■

Covid-19將提供最殘酷的考驗，不是對歐盟，而是對歐洲成員國。如果歐盟不最終在財政上團結起來，就得由各個國家來開出支票，以阻止它們的經(jīng)濟窒息。處理病人的將是各州。國家將承擔失去親人的人的責任?！案蟮臍W洲”為歐盟最近的危機提供了一個誘人的解決方案。但“小歐洲”也必須扮演自己的角色。■

詞匯

Bereaved/喪失親人的人