2006年VOA标准英语-Russia-EU Summit Scores Small Progress

By Lisa McAdams
Moscow
24 November 2006

Russia and the European Union were unable to start negotiating a key trade deal when at a meeting in Helsinki Friday, after Poland blocked progress due to Russia's ban on its meat imports.  We hear more from VOA's Lisa McAdams in Moscow.

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European Union and Russian leaders were forced to settle for progress on several smaller issues, rather than open key talks on a new partnership¹ agreement between EU member states and Moscow, during their one-day summit in Helsinki Friday.

The European Commission can only start negotiating the agreement when all 25 EU member states have given it a mandate² to do so. But, Poland refused after Russia banned imports of its meat and other agricultural products.

EU Foreign Affairs and Security Chief Policy Javier Solana, (r), Russian President Vladimir Putin and EC President Jose Manuel Barroso, (l), at EU-Russia summit in Helsinki, 24 Nov. 2006

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a negotiated settlement of the trade dispute.

Despite the setback³, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says the European Union and Russia remain on good terms.

"I think we can say that we achieved important progress with Russia, a very important strategic partner and a close neighbor," he said. "It's true it was not possible for the summit to launch negotiations⁵ for a new agreement with Russia to replace the existing PCA [partnership and cooperation agreement], but we can not escape our common future. We will work to launch it as soon as possible."

Mr. Barroso says the existing Russia-EU partnership agreement, due to expire late next year, will continue until a new one is ready to be signed.

The summit did, however, produce a deal aimed at ending a decades-old dispute over fees Russia charges foreign aircraft to fly over Siberia. The fees cost European carriers more than $300 million annually⁶. But under terms of Friday's deal, Russia will phase out the surcharges by the end of 2013.

EU Trade Commissioner⁷ Peter Mandelson says the deal shows the EU and Russia can resolve trade disputes by negotiation⁴ when there is a will to do so. Mr. Mandelson's comment is particularly interesting given that Russia is now threatening to impose a ban on imports of EU meat products beginning the first of next year.

Moscow says it is uncertain whether products from new members Romania and Bulgaria are safe for consumption. Seeking to head-off yet another potentially thorny⁸ dispute, the European Commission earlier announced it will be sending a team of experts to Moscow next week to try and ease Russian fears.

The summit also yielded an EU offer to support Russia in its bid to gain entry into the World Trade Organization, possibly as early as next year. But on the more contentious⁹ issue of energy policy, Friday's talks were inconclusive.

Russia reiterated¹⁰ it would not ratify¹¹ a new energy charter aimed at opening up its oil-and-gas market to foreign investment in its current form. Russia says it supports the charter in principle, but that more talks are needed. Brussels says the charter is necessary to boost security and efficiency, especially since Russia supplies the European Union with about one-third of its energy needs.

EU High Commissioner Javier Solana says Friday's discussions also touched on issues of concern beyond EU or Russian borders, including Iran and the ongoing¹² violence in the Middle East.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

3 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

4 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

5 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。

6 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

9 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

10 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

11 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

12 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。