2019年经济学人 欧盟的最高职位(1)

 

The EU’s top jobs

欧盟的最高职位

Buggins belongs at the back

老将在后

When picking leaders, Europe should put skill before box-ticking

在挑选领导人时，欧洲应该把技巧放在首位

Seen from afar, Europe is shrinking and ineffective. In Germany Angela Merkel’s chancellorship¹ is winding² down. Domestic woes³ bedevil the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Britain is leaving the EU, which is divided between east and west, north and south, liberals and authoritarians⁴. The big centre right and centre-left blocks are struggling, as politics fragments across the continent. If America or China wants to speak to Europe, it is less clear than ever whom they should call.

从旁观者角度来看，欧洲正在萎缩，效率低下。德国，安吉拉·默克尔的任期就要结束。法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙深受国内问题的困扰。英国正在脱离欧盟，其中东与西、南与北、自由主义者与威权主义者各有阵营。随着欧洲大陆的政治分裂，大的中右翼和中左翼阵营正在苦苦挣扎。如果美国或中国想和欧洲对话，应该打给谁是很不明确的。

The European Parliament elections have brought yet more fragmentation, with the two main groups losing seats and their joint⁵ majority in the EU’s legislature. Liberals, Greens and right-wing populists gained. The union today resembles a patchwork⁶ of ideological⁷ and regional tendencies. That makes the task of parcelling out its big jobs extra-fiddly. There are four vacancies⁸: the presidencies⁹ of the European Commission (the EU’s executive), the European Council (its senate-like body of national leaders) and the European Central Bank (ECB) as well as the “high representative” for the EU’s foreign and security policy. A convention of 2014 says the commission job should go to the “lead candidate” of the largest group in the parliament. Under an older precedent¹⁰, those appointed to the top positions are meant to include representatives of all corners of the continent and of the big political families. Different permutations are lined up until, like a Rubik’s cube, everything slots into place.

欧洲议会选举加深了分裂，两个主要团体失去了选举席位，并失去了欧盟立法机构的多数席位。自由党、绿党及右翼民粹主义者获利。如今的欧盟就像意识形态和区域合作趋势的大杂烩。这使得把大块任务分出去的工作格外棘手。有四个空缺：欧洲委员会主席(欧盟的执行机构)、欧洲理事会(由各国领导人组成的类似参议院的机构)、欧洲中央银行(ECB)以及欧盟外交和安全政策的“高级代表”。 2014年出台的公约显示，委员会的工作应该由议会中最大群体的“主要候选人”担任。根据一个较早的先例，那些被任命担任最高职位的人应该包括欧洲大陆各个角落和大政治家族的代表。不同的组合安排在一起直到一切都安排妥当，就像魔方一样。

1 chancellorship   

长官的职位或任期

参考例句：

• For instance, Chien Wei-chang can perhaps still keep his post as professor but not the vice-chancellorship. 比如钱伟长，恐怕教授还可以当，副校长就当不成了。
• The first televised debate between candidates for the chancellorship was judged a draw last night. 昨晚竞选长官职位的第一场电视辩论以平局告终。

2 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

3 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

4 authoritarians   

权力主义者，专制者，独裁者( authoritarian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It requires no complicated theories of a preference for authoritarians or personal seduction. 并不需要所谓偏爱独裁者或似魅力等复杂理论。
• The authors advocated immediate intervention by industry chiefs to stop authoritarians from rising up the ranks. 研究报告的撰写者们呼吁行业领导立即采取措施阻止有此种苗头的单位领导获得晋升机会。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

7 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

8 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 presidencies   

n.总统的职位( presidency的名词复数 )；总统的任期

参考例句：

• The Dalai Lama previously visited the island during the presidencies of Chen Shui-bian and Lee Teng-hui. 曾经获得诺贝尔和平奖的达赖喇嘛，此前曾在李登辉和陈水扁主政期间访问台湾。 来自互联网

10 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。