经济学人下载:总能逆风翻盘的欧盟怎么折在了疫情上?(2)

Part of Europe’s problem is demography. EU populations are old by global standards, making them more susceptible to the disease. Other less well understood factors, such as crowded cities, may also make Europeans vulnerable. The cross-border mobility that is one of the EU’s great achievements probably worked in favour of the virus, and no one will want to curb that when the pandemic eases. 

欧洲的部分问题在于其人口组成。从全球标准来看，欧盟人口老龄化较为严重，这使他们更容易感染新冠。其他因素尚未研究透彻，但例如拥挤的城市也可能会让欧洲人变得易感。作为欧盟重大成就之一的跨境流动却可能有利于病毒传播，而且没有人愿意在疫情缓和时遏制流动。

But part of Europe’s problem is politics. Jean Monnet, a French diplomat who helped found the European project, famously wrote that “Europe will be forged in crisis.” When things are at their worst, those words are seized on to suggest the EU will snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Sure enough, during the euro crisis the European Central Bank (ECB) eventually saved the day with new policies; likewise, the migration crisis of 2015 greatly enhanced Frontex, the EU’s border-security force. 

但欧洲的部分问题还在于其政治。曾帮助建立欧洲计划的法国外交官让·莫内曾有句名言：“欧洲将在危机中锻造”。人们会用这些话暗示处境最糟糕的欧盟将转败为胜。果然，在欧元危机期间，欧洲央行（ECB）最终以新政策力挽狂澜；同样，2015年的移民危机也大大增强了欧盟边防局的实力。

However, Monnet’s dictum is also a source of complacency. The civil war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s led to the declaration that “This is the hour of Europe”. Years of carnage followed. Likewise, last year’s decision to give the European Commission sole responsibility for buying and sharing out covid-19 vaccines for 450m people has been a buck-passing disaster. 

然而，莫内的名言也让欧盟自满。20世纪90年代南斯拉夫内战引发了“这是属于欧洲的时刻”的宣言。数年的大屠杀接踵而至。同样，去年决定让欧盟委员会全权负责为4.5亿人购买和分享新冠疫苗，也是一场互相推诿的灾难。

It made sense to pool the research effort of 27 countries and their funds for pre-purchasing vaccines, just as Operation Warp Speed in America brought together 50 states. However, the EU’s bureaucracy mismanaged the contract negotiations, perhaps because national governments generally oversee public health. The project was handled chiefly by the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who gleefully called the decision to expand her empire a “European success story”. 

将27个国家的研究成果及其资金集中用于预购疫苗是有意义的，就像美国将50个州集中在一起的“空间机战行动”一样。然而，也许是因为欧洲各国政府普遍监督公共卫生，从而致使欧盟的官僚机构对合同谈判管理不善。该项目由欧盟委员会主席乌苏拉·冯·德莱恩负责，她得意洋洋地称扩大其帝国的决定为“欧洲的成功范例”。