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32 欧盟15国首脑决定接收前共产主义国家加入欧盟
EU Leaders Hope to Proceed with Expansion Plans
Roger Wilkison
Gothenburg, Sweden
15 Jun 2001 13:45 UTC
Leaders of the European Union's 15 member states say they are determined to proceed with their plans to enlarge the 1)bloc to include a dozen mostly former Communist nations, despite Irish voters' rejection last week of the treaty that lays the 2)groundwork for EU expansion. The two day EU summit began Friday in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Just when the EU thought it was making progress in its negotiations with countries seeking to join the Union, out of the blue last week came an 3)embarrassing vote by the Irish against the treaty that would admit new members.
Sweden was hoping to 4)crown its 5)presidency of the bloc at the end of this month with the 6)adoption of a 7)timetable that would allow the Union to complete its negotiations with the candidates by the end of next year, and allow the most promising of them to join by 2004. But even the Swedes say that prospect now looks unlikely, although they and the French and the Germans are working on a 8)declaration stressing that there must be no delay in the expansion process.
All eyes in Gothenburg are on Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. Ireland's partners in the EU are pressing him to hold another referendum next year that they hope would reverse last week's popular vote against the Treaty of Nice, which provides for sweeping reforms of EU institutions to pave the way for enlargement. Mr. Ahern has said that he thinks the Irish would say "yes"to the treaty if a few changes were made to it, but German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has 9)ruled out any re-negotiation of the pact.
Irish officials were as shocked as their European 10)colleagues by the "no"vote. Ireland has been a major 11)beneficiary of EU 12)subsidies and has been generally pro-European in outlook. The 13)conventional wisdom among Europe watchers is that the Irish vote was more about fears that EU plans to develop its own defense force would undermine Ireland's cherished 14)neutrality than a rejection of the bloc's eastward expansion.
Leaders of the 13 countries seeking to join the Union will arrive in Gothenburg on Saturday to discuss ways to get the 15)enlargement process back on track. Many of them fear that their countries' hopes of getting into the bloc have been set back and are calling for a clear signal that the EU will not let them down.
The enlargement issue took center stage in Gothenburg after EU leaders held a day of talks with President Bush on Thursday. Mr. Bush has left town, but many of the demonstrators who protested against his environmental and defense policies are also against 16)globalization and the European Union itself. Police are calling for 17)reinforcements to deal with a threat by some of the more radical activists to storm the convention center where EU leaders are meeting.
(1) bloc[blRk]n.为某种共同目的而采取一致行动的政治组织, 集团
(2) groundwork[5^raJndw:k]n.地基, 基础, 根基
(3) embarrass[Im5bArEs]vt.使困窘, 阻碍, 麻烦
(4) crown[kraJn]n.王冠, 顶vt.表彰, 使圆满完成
(5) presidency[5prezIdEnsI]n.任期
(6) adoption[E5dRpF(E)n]n.采用, 收养
(7) timetable[5taImteIb(E)l]n.时间表
(8) declaration[deklE5reIF(E)n]n.宣布, 宣言, 声明
(9) rule out v.划去, 排除, 取消
(10) colleague[5kRli:^]n.同事, 同僚
(11) beneficiary[benI5fIFErI; (?@) benE5fIFIerI]n.受惠者, 受益人
(12) subsidy[5sQbsIdI]n.补助金, 津贴
(13) convention[kEn5venF(E)n]n.大会, 协定, 习俗
(14) neutrality[nju:5trAlEtI; (?@) nu:-]n.中立, 中性
(15) enlargement[In5lB:dVmEnt]n.放大
(16) globalization[9^lEJbElaI`zeIFEn;-lI`z-]n.全球化,全球性
(17) reinforcement[riIn5fCrsmEnt; ri:In5fC:smEnt]n.增援, 加强, 加固
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