欧盟15国首脑决定接收前共产主义国家加入欧盟

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 determined¹ to proceed with their plans to enlarge the 1)bloc² to include a dozen mostly former Communist nations, despite Irish voters' rejection³ 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 negotiations⁴ 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 promising⁵ of them to join by 2004. But even the Swedes say that prospect⁶ 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 sweeping⁷ 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 Chancellor⁸ Gerhard Schroeder has 9)ruled out any re-negotiation of the pact⁹.
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 defense¹⁰ force would undermine Ireland's cherished 14)neutrality than a rejection of the bloc's eastward¹¹ 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 radical¹² activists¹³ 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

 

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

3 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

9 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

12 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》