经济学人下载:欧盟贸易(1)

If the Trump administration's America is the bully of the global trading system,
如果特朗普政府领导下的美国是全球贸易体系的恶霸，

the European Union is the finger-wagging school prefect.
那么欧盟就是指手画脚的学校学长。

Instead of threatening tariffs, its leaders have called for countries to play fairly.
其领导人没有威胁要征收关税，而是呼吁各国公平竞争。

As a trade war has raged between America and China, the EU suggested a rules-based solution.
随着美国和中国贸易战争愈演愈烈，欧盟提出了一个基于规则的解决方案。

When the Trump administration wrecked the system of solving disputes at the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
当特朗普政府破坏了WTO的争端解决机制时，

the EU led the search for a fix. As the world's biggest exporter of services and second only to China for goods,
欧盟带头寻找解决办法。作为世界上最大的服务出口国和仅次于中国的商品出口国，

it has a sizeable stake in preserving order.
欧盟在维持秩序方面有相当大的利害关系。

Enter Phil Hogan, the EU's burly trade commissioner since December 2019.
自2019年12月起担任欧盟贸易专员的菲尔·霍根登场了。

The EU is still a stickler for rules and the multilateralism that Mr Hogan says is "in our DNA". But he wants to wield a bigger stick.
欧盟仍然坚持规则和多边主义，霍根称多边主义“存在于我们的DNA中”。但他想展现出欧盟更大的威力。

"We have to stand up for our rights more assertively and aggressively, in my view," he tells The Economist.
他告诉《经济学人》，“在我看来，我们必须更坚定、更积极地捍卫我们的权利。”

By this he means defending the EU against unfair trading practices.
他的意思是保护欧盟免受不公平贸易行为的侵害。

The challenges range from concerns about China's state-led system of capitalism
这些挑战包括对中国政府主导的资本主义制度的担忧，

to fears that the EU's trading partners are not living up to their commitments.
以及对欧盟贸易伙伴没有兑现承诺的担忧。

Part of his brief involves continuing efforts to rescue the system by which the WTO solves disputes.
他的部分职责包括继续努力拯救世贸组织解决争端的体系。

Meanwhile he will have to manage the tense transatlantic relationship.
与此同时，他将不得不处理紧张的跨大西洋关系。

If the job was not daunting enough, he will help negotiate what he hopes will be an "amicable" trade deal with Britain.
如果不够艰巨，他还将帮助与英国谈判，以达成他所希望的“友好”贸易协议。

Mr Hogan's reputation as a canny politician willing to make tough decisions—
作为一位精明的政治家，霍根愿意做出艰难决定的名声——

his nickname in Irish politics was "the enforcer"— suggests that he may be right for the job.
他在爱尔兰政界的绰号是“执法者”——意味着他或许很适合这个工作。

On behalf of his home county of Kilkenny, where he entered Irish politics at the age of 22, he haggled effectively
在22岁时进入爱尔兰政坛的他代表家乡基尔肯尼郡进行了有效的争论

(for example, ensuring that the region's salt depot was in Kilkenny, partly so that in case of ice the local roads would be salted first).
（例如，确保该地区的盐库位于基尔肯尼，部分原因是为了道路结冰时，当地的道路将首先获得盐）。

He is "no flat tyre", as one Leinster admirer puts it. Later he drew controversy when in 2011,
正如一位伦斯特省的仰慕者所言，他“没有泄气”。后来他在2011年引发争议，

as Ireland's Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government,
当时他是爱尔兰环境、社区和地方政府部长，

he was put in charge of introducing unpopular water charges. It damaged his reputation.
负责引入不受欢迎的水费收取政策。这损害了他的名声。

But as a consolation prize, the Irish government backed him as the EU's agriculture commissioner.
但作为安慰奖，爱尔兰政府支持他担任欧盟农业专员。

His experience over the following five years meant that he became intimately acquainted with the EU's most sensitive spots.
在接下来的五年里，他的经历意味着他对欧盟最敏感的地方了如指掌。

Alongside Cecilia Malmstrom, then the EU's trade commissioner, he boasts of concluding no fewer than 15 trade agreements.
他夸耀自己与时任欧盟贸易专员塞西莉亚·马尔姆斯特罗姆一道，达成了不少于15项贸易协定。

According to some of the negotiators who were on the opposite side of the table,
据坐在谈判桌另一边的一些谈判员所说，

while he could be both charming and funny, his strategies to avoid giving concessions could be deeply frustrating.
虽然他即迷人又风趣，但他避免让步的策略可能会让人非常挫败。

In some cases, he simply declined to show up.
在一些谈判中，他干脆拒绝出席。