VOA慢速英語(yǔ):EU Agrees to 1.3 Trillion Budget

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report in Special English.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)經(jīng)濟(jì)報(bào)道。

European Union countries have struggled to find common ground as they worked out a budget agreement in Belgium this month. European leaders finally had success last week. They agreed on the European Union's multiannual financial framework, or MMF, for the period from 2014 to 2020.

歐盟國(guó)家一直在努力尋找共同點(diǎn)。本月，他們?cè)诒壤麜r(shí)達(dá)成了一項(xiàng)預(yù)算協(xié)議。上周，歐盟領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人終于取得了成功。他們?cè)跉W盟2014年到2020年期間的多年度金融框架(簡(jiǎn)稱MMF)上取得了一致。

The MMF sets the EU's total spending at $1.3 trillion. That represents one percent of the total income of EU members. Members agreed to reduce total spending by over three percent for the period. This is the first time spending cuts have been made.

MMF設(shè)定歐盟總支出為1.3萬億美元，這一數(shù)字代表著歐盟成員國(guó)總收入的1%。各成員國(guó)同意在此期間，把總支出降低3%以上。這是歐盟成員國(guó)首次作出削減開支的決定。

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy spoke after the agreement was announced. He said the compromise budget may not be perfect. But he said it should help all EU members.

歐洲理事會(huì)主席范龍佩在協(xié)議公布后發(fā)表了講話。他說，這項(xiàng)妥協(xié)預(yù)算可能并不完美，但它應(yīng)該會(huì)對(duì)所有歐盟成員國(guó)有所幫助。

"Our support to the most vulnerable people remains intact, so does our external action funding even despite the crisis. This budget will allow Europe to keep engaging on vital global issues such as climate change, nuclear safety and development aid."

他說，“我們對(duì)弱勢(shì)群體的支持仍然保持不變，這還包括我們的對(duì)外行動(dòng)撥款，哪怕是在經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)中。這項(xiàng)預(yù)算方案將會(huì)使歐盟繼續(xù)介入一些關(guān)鍵的全球性問題，如氣候變化、核安全以及發(fā)展援助。”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the long-term spending plan. She said the agreement makes policy more predictable and enables members to act in the interest of Europe.

德國(guó)總理默克爾稱贊了這一長(zhǎng)期支出計(jì)劃。她表示，該協(xié)議使得政策更具可預(yù)測(cè)性，成員國(guó)也得以在歐洲利益上采取行動(dòng)。

Some EU leaders have been calling for greater spending controls in their home countries. They wanted the EU to show that it is willing to cut costs.

一些歐盟領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人一直呼吁在本國(guó)進(jìn)行更大規(guī)模的支出控制。他們希望歐盟表明其削減支出的意愿。

British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the agreement. Before the two-day meeting, he had threatened to veto the budget if there were no steps toward cutting spending.

英國(guó)首相卡梅倫對(duì)該協(xié)議表示了歡迎。在這次為期兩天的會(huì)議之前，他曾威脅如果沒有邁出削減支出的步伐，他就要投票否決這一預(yù)算方案。

"So I think the British public can be proud that we have cut the seven-year credit card limit for the European Union for the first time ever. And as a result the EU's seven-year budget will cost less than one percent of Europe's gross national income. That is also for the first time ever."

他說，“所以我認(rèn)為，英國(guó)公眾可以為此自豪，我們有史以來第一次削減了歐盟7年的信貸限額，結(jié)果歐盟7年的預(yù)算只會(huì)花費(fèi)歐盟總國(guó)民收入的1%不到，這也是有史以來的第一次。

The European parliament still must approve the measure. But some parliament members say it fails to deal with problems like the sharp wealth differences between rich and poor. Guy Verhofstadt from Belgium is a member of the European parliament. He does not think the measure will pass.

該措施還必須經(jīng)過歐洲議會(huì)批準(zhǔn)。但一些議員表示，該協(xié)議未能處理一些問題，象貧富之間的巨大財(cái)富差距。來自比利時(shí)的Guy Verhofstadt是歐盟議會(huì)的議員。他認(rèn)為該措施無法通過。

"I don't think that we shall have a majority in the parliament to approve this proposal...we are creating a big deficit of more than 50 billion euros and that is not acceptable."

“我認(rèn)為該提案在議會(huì)中不會(huì)得到絕大多數(shù)同意。我們正在創(chuàng)造一個(gè)超過500億歐元的巨大赤字，這是不能接受的。”

If approved, the measure will affect 28 European Union countries. The EU says Croatia is expected to join the group in July.

如果該措施獲得通過將影響到28個(gè)歐盟國(guó)家。歐盟表示，克羅地亞有望于今年7月加入歐盟。