2019年经济学人 欧盟的最高职位(1)（在线收听）

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 chancellorship is winding down. Domestic woes bedevil the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Britain is leaving the EU, which is divided between east and west, north and south, liberals and authoritarians. 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 joint majority in the EU’s legislature. Liberals, Greens and right-wing populists gained. The union today resembles a patchwork of ideological and regional tendencies. That makes the task of parcelling out its big jobs extra-fiddly. There are four vacancies: the presidencies 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 precedent, 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。