经济学人下载:欧盟——填充金库(2)

Some members have long pledged a tax on financial transactions.
一些成员国长期以来一直承诺对金融交易征税。

But as James Tobin, its intellectual godfather, supposedly said, the levy is like the Loch Ness Monster:
但正如其知识教父詹姆士·托宾所说，征税就像是尼斯湖水怪：

the idea occasionally pops up then disappears for years.
这个想法偶尔会冒出来，然后又消失多年。

National vetoes might make taxing foreigners look attractive. Leaders said they would try to implement two such levies by 2023:
国家否决权可能会让向外国人征税看起来更有吸引力。领导人们表示，他们将努力在2023年前实施两项这样的税收：

a "carbon border-adjustment mechanism" (a tariff on climate-unfriendly imports), which could raise 5bn-14bn euros a year,
一个是“碳排放边境边界调整机制”（对气候不友好进口商品征收关税），每年能筹到50亿至140亿欧元，

and a less lucrative levy on (mainly American) tech firms. Yet these face problems too.
一个是对（主要是美国的）科技公司征收利润较少的税。然而，这些也面临着问题。

The border mechanism is devilish to design and will be challenged at the World Trade Organisation.
边境机制的设计非常棘手，且将受到世界贸易组织的挑战。

America's opposition to a digital tax has stalled a parallel process at the OECD, and given pause to governments trying to impose national versions.
美国反对数字税阻碍了经济合作与发展组织的行进程，也让各国政府暂停了实施国家版本的努力。

Contributions from members based on national income have long made up the bulk of the EU's budget.
长久以来，成员国基于国民收入的贡献一直是欧盟预算的主要组成部分。

Every seven years countries grapple over minor adjustments to it; the summits are bruising, but governments retain control.
每隔七年，各国就会为一些小的调整而争吵不休；峰会争吵激烈，但政府依旧掌握控制权。

Introducing fresh own resources would jolt them out of such zero-sum thinking,
引入新的自有资源将让他们跳出这种零和思维，

says Valerie Hayer, a French member of the European Parliament, and give heft to common priorities, such as climate.
欧洲议会的一名法国成员Valerie Hayer说到，并重视共同优先处理问题，如气候。

The parliament, which must approve last week's deal,
议会必须批准上周的协议，

will seek to ensure that governments' vows on own resources are not "empty", she adds. Yet it cannot force their hands.
并将寻求确保政府对自有资源的承诺不是“空谈”，她补充到。然而，议会不能强迫他们采取行动。

If the own-resources discussion flops, countries could simply pay more into the next budget to repay the recovery-fund debt.
如果自有资源谈论失败，那么各国只需在下一项预算中投入更多资金，以偿还复苏基金的债务。

But history shows that governments under fiscal pressure prefer to cut the EU's spending, says Ms Rubio;
但历史表明，处于财政压力下的政府更愿意削减欧盟的支出，Rubio说到；

common endeavours such as research were slashed to preserve the recovery fund last week.
上周，为了保存复苏基金，研究等共同努力被大幅削减。

Still, a lot can happen before 2028. For the EU to borrow and redistribute hundreds of billions of euros would have seemed unimaginable a year ago.
不过，2028年之前还有很多事情都可能发生。对于欧盟来说，借款和再分配数千亿欧元在一年前似乎是不可想象的。

The topic of own resources "was never sexy", says Mr Monti. "Now it is beginning to become so."
Monti表示，自有资源的话题“从来都不吸引人”。“现在情况开始变得如此。”