European Union leaders are in Brussels for a two-day meeting amid heavy pressure to pump more money into their economies to fight the global financial crisis. The Europeans will seek a united front two weeks before a key meeting of the top 20 world economies in London.
欧洲联盟领导人正在布鲁塞尔举行两天会议，讨论如何战胜全球金融危机。欧盟各国面临越来越大的压力，要求他们拿出更多的资金来拯救经济。现在距离20国集团在伦敦举行首脑会议只差两个星期了，欧洲领导人希望能够在会议之前统一立场。
The Brussels summit is the latest in a series of talks about how to tackle the economic downturn that has hard hit the 27-nation European Union, along with the rest of the world. At a meeting of top world finance ministers outside London last weekend, the United States and Europe sought to present a common stance in dealing with the most severe crisis in decades.
布鲁塞尔峰会是近来一系列经济会议的最新一次。与会领导人探讨的问题都是如何制止经济的下滑趋势。全球经济下滑使欧盟27个成员国以及世界其他地区无一幸免，遭到重创。上个周末，在伦敦举行的20国集团财政部长会议上，美国和欧洲试图拿出一个共同的立场，来对付这场几十年来最为严重的经济危机。
As British Chancellor Alistair Darling told reporters there, each country must feel free to establish their own policies.
正像英国财政大臣达林(AlistairDarling)对记者所说的，每个国家都必须自由地建立各自的政策。
"We are not, in anything we said today, prescribing what individual countries have to do," Darling said. "They have to make their own choice and it follows from that, of course, that central banks in different countries have different objectives, different terms of reference. And we would not seek to disturb that."
达林：“我们今天所说的任何东西都并非是给各个国家开药方。他们必须做出自己的选择，当然是从各自的角度出发，不同国家的中央银行都有不同的目标，不同的权限。我们不能谋求对他们进行干扰。”
But behind the talk of unity, there is strong pressure from the United States, in particular, for Europeans to do more. The EU is spending about 3.3 percent of its gross domestic product on economic stimulus measures. But critics like American Nobel economics laureate Paul Krugman say that is not enough.
但是在大谈团结一致的背后，美国正在施很大的压力，尤其是对欧洲，要他们采取更多的措施。欧洲联盟已经拿出相当于其国内生产总值3.3%的资金来刺激经济。但是批评人士认为，这是不够的。美国的诺贝尔经济学奖得主保罗·克鲁格曼就是其中之一。
Krugman, who was visiting Brussels this week, also faults the deficit cap, known as the stability pact, for EU members using the euro currency.
这个星期正在布鲁塞尔访问的克鲁格曼还对欧盟规定的赤字上限进行批评。根据欧盟的规定，凡是使用欧元的欧盟成员国，财政赤字都不能超过其国内生产总值的3%。这个规定被称为稳定公约。
"These are unusual times," Krugman said. "These are times when virtue is vice and prudence is folly. This is a time when deficits are what we need, not a problem. The stability pact is way off. Think of the United States, I think the U.S. is doing the right thing, maybe not even enough of it, and we are looking for a deficit of 12 to 13 percent of GDP. That is the right thing to do. The stability pact really needs to be put on ice for now."
克鲁格曼说：“现在是非常时期。在这个时候，循规蹈矩等于罪恶，谨言慎行就是愚蠢。在这种时候，赤字恰恰是我们所需要的，并不是什么问题。这个稳定公约现在是太离谱了。看看美国，我认为美国现在所做的是正确的，或许还做的不够，我们现在的预算赤字相当于国内生产总值的12%到13%。这正是应该做的事情。欧盟的稳定公约现在真应该冷冻起来。”
Ordinary Europeans are also critical of their government's economic recovery plans. That was evident Thursday in France, when hundreds of thousands of French took to the streets in protest.
普通的欧洲人也对他们政府的经济复苏计划持批评态度。星期四在法国，成千上万的人走上街头示威游行就是佐证。
But a number of European countries, including France and Germany, say they have spent enough, for now.
可是欧洲的很多国家，包括法国和德国，都说他们的花销现在已经足够了。
The EU summit will also be dominated over divisions about how to spend $7 billion in infrastructure projects, and how much money should be made available for eastern European members of the bloc, which have been among those worst hit by the financial crisis.
在欧盟举行的这次峰会上，主要的分歧是如何花费用于基建项目的70亿美元资金，以及应该向欧盟的东欧成员国提供多少援助款项。东欧是受这次金融危机冲击最严重的地区之一。 |