2021年经济学人 总能逆风翻盘的欧盟怎么折在了疫情上?(3)

Hardly. Her team focused too much on price and too little on security of supply. They haggled¹ pointlessly over liability should vaccines³ cause harm. Europe dithered in the August holidays. It was as if the Monnet-like forging of an ever-closer union was the real prize and the task of actually running vaccination⁴ a sideshow. Subsequent bickering⁵, point-scoring and the threatened blockade of vaccine² exports have done more to undermine faith in vaccination than restore the commission’s reputation. Were she still a member of a national government it is hard to see how Mrs von der Leyen could stay in her post.

不可能。她的团队过于关注价格，而对供应安全关注太少。他们在疫苗造成伤害的责任问题上坚持毫无意义地讨价还价。欧洲在八月假期里仍犹豫不决。就好像莫内建立一个更加紧密的联盟才是真正的奖赏，而实际的疫苗接种任务只是一个小把戏。随后的争吵、相互指责以及威胁封锁疫苗出口，只会让人们对疫苗接种更加没底，完全没有恢复欧盟委员会的声誉。如果冯德莱恩夫人仍然是国家政府的成员，很难想象她能如何继续留任。

Europe has also fallen short economically. Again, it has used the pandemic to make institutional progress, by creating a meaty new instrument known as the Next Generation EU fund, or NGEU. Worth 750bn euros ($880bn), this is targeted mainly at weaker countries that need it most. More than half the money is grants not loans, lessening⁶ the eff?ect on national debt. It is also being paid for by raising debt for which the union as a whole is jointly⁷ liable. That is welcome, because it creates a mechanism⁸ which severs⁹ the link between raising money and the creditworthiness of national governments. In future crises that could protect euro-zone countries from capital fl?ight.

欧洲在经济上也有所欠缺。此外，欧盟还利用疫情，创建了一个丰富的、名为“新一代欧盟基金”的新工具，并在体制上取得了进展。该基金价值7500亿欧元（合8800亿美元），主要针对最需要援助的弱国。一半以上的资金是赠款而不是贷款，这减少了对国家债务的影响。欧盟还通过增加整个联盟共同承担的债务来支付。这是值得欢迎的，因为欧盟建立了一种机制，切断了筹资与各国政府信誉之间的联系。在未来的危机中，这可能保护欧元区国家免受资金外逃的影响。

As with vaccines, however, triumph at the NGEU’s creation belies¹⁰ its slow execution. The fi?rst money is still months from being paid out, as member states scrap¹¹ with the commission over their individual programmes. By the end of next year, only a quarter of the fund will have been disbursed¹².

然而，与疫苗一样，新一代欧盟的成功掩盖了它的缓慢执行。由于成员国在各自的项目上与欧盟委员会争论不休，第一笔资金离发放还有几个月的时间。到明年年底，只有四分之一的资金将得到拨付。

1 haggled   

v.讨价还价( haggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cook and the grocer haggled over the price of eggs. 厨师和杂货商为蛋价计较个没完。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After they had haggled for some time, the two men decided to close the bargain. 那两个人经过一番讨价还价以后，决定成交。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

5 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。

7 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

8 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

9 severs   

v.切断，断绝( sever的第三人称单数 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• He shut his eyes to the severs reality. 对于这严峻的现实，他是闭着眼睛不肯看的。 来自《用法词典》
• It practically severs the Mediterranean. 实际上是将地中海分开。 来自辞典例句

10 belies   

v.掩饰( belie的第三人称单数 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎

参考例句：

• His appearance belies him. 他的外貌给人以假象。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The modesty of their home belies their great wealth. 他们简朴的家使人们看不出他们拥有巨额财富。 来自辞典例句

11 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

12 disbursed   

v.支出，付出( disburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the 2000—2008 school year, $426.5 million was disbursed to 349085 students. 2000至2008学年，共有349085名学生获发津贴，总额达4.265亿元。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bank has disbursed over $350m for the project. 银行已经为这个项目支付了超过3.5亿美元。 来自辞典例句