欧洲领导人峰会受到巨大压力须解决危机

European leaders are gathering in Brussels for a critical end-of-year summit, another attempt to resolve a sovereign debt and banking crisis threatening the very future of the euro currency union. Pressure is on for them to come out with a definitive deal this time around, after what critics claim are months of half-measures.

This is not the first time a European Union summit has been described as the last chance to save the struggling euro currency union. But the 27 EU leaders gathering Thursday and Friday in Brussels face extraordinary pressure, at home and abroad,to deliver a lasting solution to the two-year-old eurozone crisis.

一次欧盟峰会被形容为拯救风雨飘摇的欧元联盟的最后集会，这已经不是第一次了。但是本周四和周五聚首布鲁塞尔的27位欧盟国家领导人，不仅在本国，同时也在其它国家面临着不同寻常的巨大压力，要求他们达成一项解决历时两年的欧元区危机的永久性方案。

The plan on the table is authored by Europe's two biggest economies, France and Germany. They want to overhaul EU treaties to forge a more binding and fiscally responsible eurozone. The two leaders outlined the details of their vision on Wednesday, in a letter to EU President Herman van Rompuy.

现在摆在桌上的计划是由欧洲最大的两大经济体法国和德国起草制定的。他们希望全面修改欧盟各项条约，来建立一个更加紧密和财经方面更为负责的欧元区。德法两国领导人星期三在一封致欧盟主席范龙佩的信中透露了他们构想的细节。

At a joint press conference with his German counterpart Angela Merkel earlier this week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the crisis has given the two countries an extra reason for unity. He said both countries envision the same kind of Europe.

本周早些时候在与德国总理默克尔举行的一场联合记者会上，法国总统萨科齐表示，这场危机已经赋予两国更多理由要团结一致。他说，德法两国对欧洲的设想一致。

But their plan must still be accepted by the other 25 EU members or at very least, the 17 members of the eurozone. And that, says analyst Philippe Moreau Defarges, of the French Institute of International Relations, is not at all certain.

但是他们的计划还必须被其它25个欧盟成员国所接受，或者起码也要得到17个欧元区成员国的认可。法国国际关系研究所的分析师菲利佩·莫罗·德法尔表示，这一切根本不能确定。

"There will be a very strong pressure to accept this deal. Not only from the eurozone members, but also outside the eurozone," he said. "I think the British should back this agreement. But it will be difficult. "

他说：“接受这个协议会有非常大的压力。这些压力不仅来自于欧元区成员国，同时也来自于欧元区之外。我想英国应当支持这项协议，但是一切会很困难。”

British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose country is not part of the euro currency union, has already expressed reservations. He told British TV his first priority at the summit will be to defend British interests.

英国不是欧元区国家，英国首相卡梅伦已经对这项协议表达了保留态度。卡梅伦在英国电视台上表示，他在此次峰会上的首要任务是维护英国的利益。

"Eurozone countries do need to come together, do need to do more things together. If they choose to use the European treaty to do that, Britain will be insisting on some safeguards too. And as long as we get those, then that treaty can go ahead," said Cameron. "If we cannot get those, it will not."

他说：“欧元区国家确实需要在一起，确实需要在一起做更多的事情。如果他们选择通过签订欧洲条约来实现自己的目标，英国将会坚持对此实行一些保障措施。只要我们得到那些保障，那么欧洲条约就可以推进。如果我们得不到那些保障，条约就不会获得通过。”

BNP Parisbas bank economist Shahin Vallee, a visiting fellow at Brussels economic think-tank Bruegel, does not think any deal reached will be enough.

法国巴黎银行的经济学家沙欣·瓦莱认为，达成的任何协议都是不够的。

"I think not, unfortunately. I think this proposal rests on the idea that with stronger fiscal rules and more automaticity of those rules the euro area will be stronger and financial markets will be comforted and have more belief in the long term sustainability of the euro area, and I think this is an illusion," said Vallee.

他说：“不幸的是，我认为不够。我认为，这项协议计划是基于随着采取更强的财经制度，这些制度更强的自动性，就会使得欧元区变得更加强大，金融市场将得到安定，并且对欧元区长期的可持续性抱有更大信心的想法。而我认为这是一种幻想。”French analyst Moreau Defarges also has his doubts about the French-German plan.

法国分析师菲利佩·莫罗·德法尔也对法德两国的计划表示怀疑。

"It is a very partial, a very institutional, a very budgetary and fiscal answer to the euro crisis. The euro crisis is a growth crisis, a problem of growth," said Defarges. "Will the European Union find a new path toward growth? That is the key question."

他说：“这是对欧元危机做出的非常片面，非常学究气，非常强调预算和财经政策的回应。欧元危机是一场增长的危机，是一个增长的问题。欧盟会找到另外一条实现经济增长的道路吗？这是关键的问题。”

Even if the other EU countries accept the French-German plan, it will take months, if not years, to fully implement it, because it may require amending EU treaties. Analysts like Vallee say Europe's crisis needs immediate action.

即使其它的欧盟国家接受法德两国的计划，那也需要即使不是数年，也要数月的时间来完全实施这项计划。因为计划获得通过可能需要修正欧盟多项条约。分析人士沙欣·瓦莱表示，欧洲的危机需要采取立竿见影的行动。

"I think the right solution would be to have a more ambitious treaty change, take the necessary time to negotiate the provisions of this new treaty, while at the same time doing something that is immediately operational to respond to the crisis and the urgency of the crisis," noted Vallee.

他说：“我认为正确的解决方案是对条约进行力度更大的修改，花费必要的时间对这项条约的条文进行磋商谈判，同时采取一些应对危机的立竿见影的行动。”

Adding to the pressure, ratings agency Standard & Poor's has threatened to downgrade the credit rating of 15 eurozone members, including heavyweights France and Germany. There are fears the crisis could spread overseas, slowing growth in Africa and Asia and threatening America's fragile recovery.

评级机构标准普尔已经威胁将调降15个欧元区成员国的信用评级，其中包括重量级的法国和德国。这也为欧元区国家雪上加霜。还有人担心这场危机会蔓延到海外，降低非洲和亚洲的增长率，并且威胁到美国脆弱的经济复苏。

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has been meeting with top officials and heads of state in Europe this week, underscoring Washington's concern.

美国财政部长盖特纳本周已经和欧洲国家的高级官员和首脑举行了会晤，强调华盛顿的担忧。

"I am here in Europe, of course, to emphasize how important it is to the United States, and to the world economy as a whole, that Germany and France succeed alongside the other nations of Europe in building a stronger Europe," said Geithner.

盖特纳说：“我就在欧洲，当然要强调德国和法国和其它欧洲国家一道构筑一个更加强大的欧洲，对美国乃至整个世界的经济是多么重要。”

The eurozone crisis has rekindled longstanding debates on whether the European Union should head toward more unity, economically and politically or does the crisis underscore the failure of European integration? Vallee believes resolving these and other EU visions is also critical to resolving the eurozone crisis.

欧元区危机已经重新点燃了长期以来有关欧盟的争论， 那就是欧盟是否应当在经济和政治上更加团结，或者这场危机彰显出欧洲整合失败。沙欣·瓦莱认为，解决这些问题以及欧盟国家的其他设想对于解决欧元区危机也是至关重要的。