The European Union says it is emerging from a recession driven by the global economic downturn, but the recovery will be shaky and slow.
欧洲联盟星期一报告说，欧洲大陆正在摆脱全球经济下滑导致的一场经济衰退，但是经济复苏的进程将是摇摆不定和缓慢的。
The EU economic outlook for 2009 is far from upbeat. Overall, the bloc's economy will shrink by four percent in 2009.
这份2009年欧盟经济展望报告是迄今为止对欧盟经济最为乐观的评估。欧洲联盟的总体经济在2009年将收缩4%。
But the European Union also predicts a modest growth of about 0.2 percent in the third quarter, which ends at the end of September. It predicts growth of about 0.1 percent for the fourth quarter, capping this year.
不过，根据欧盟的预测，在截至9月底的今年第三季度，欧盟经济会增长0.2%，第四季度增长大约0.1%，给欧洲大陆的经济衰退划上句号。
At a press conference in Brussels, EU economic affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia summed up the year for the 27-member bloc.
欧盟经济专员阿尔穆尼亚(Joaquin Almunia)在布鲁塞尔举行的记者会上对这个27国集团今年的经济形势做了总结。
"We started 2009 from a lower point because of the downward revision from the end of 2008, but we will end 2009 in a better position than we were expecting a few months ago and this gives us a more positive outlook, not only for the second part of this year but also for the beginning of 2010," said Joaquin Almunia.
他说：“由于2008年底经济大幅下滑，所以2009年一开始我们的起点就比较低，但是在2009年结束的时候，我们的情况将比几个月前预期的要好。这使我们对未来的期望更加积极，并不仅仅是对今年后半年，而且对2010年开头都感到更加乐观。”
But Almunia said the outlook was fraught with uncertainty and gloomy indicators. Unemployment will continue to rise and European government finances are strained by expensive financial bailout packages and other demands. Meanwhile, he predicted energy and food prices will increase, possibly leading to inflation by the year's end.
可是阿尔穆尼亚又说，欧盟的经济前景也充满了不确定性和令人沮丧的经济数据。比如，失业率会继续上升，欧盟政府的财政状况会受到巨额金融纾困计划和其他需求的制约。与此同时，他预测，能源和食品价格将会上扬，而且有可能在年底导致通货膨胀卷土重来。
The EU projections are based on data from seven countries - Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. These seven countries account for 80 percent of the bloc's gross domestic product. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is expected to lead the recovery.
欧盟的经济预测是根据英国、法国、德国、意大利、荷兰、波兰和西班牙这七个国家的经济数据做出的。这七个国家的国内生产总值占整个欧盟GDP的80%。德国作为欧洲最大经济体预计将是欧盟经济复苏的领头羊。 |