欧盟下调明年经济增长预估

Europe got more bad news on Thursday, as the European Union's executive arm sharply downgraded growth forecasts for the region. This has major implications for a continent buffeted by the financial and political crises in Italy and Greece.

星期四，欧洲有更多的坏消息出台。欧盟的执行机构欧盟委员会大幅度下调了对该地区经济增长的预估。这一行动对遭受意大利和希腊的金融与政治危机打击的欧洲地区很有意义。

The new figures predict economic growth across the European Union of only 0.6 percent next year - and just 0.5 percent in the 17-nation eurozone. That is substantially less than the 1.8 percent growth predictions earlier this year for the euro currency area.

新的预测指出，欧盟明年的经济增幅只有0.6%，而由17个国家组成的欧元区明年的经济增幅只有0.5%。这个预估大大低于今年早些时候对欧元区所做的1.8%的经济增长幅度的预估。

European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn delivered a sober assessment of the region's problems at a press conference in Brussels.

在布鲁塞尔举行的一次记者会上，欧盟经济与货币事务专员瑞恩谈到了针对该地区问题所做的一项严肃的评估。

"GDP is now forecast to stagnate around the turn of this year, with some member states, in fact, experiencing a contraction," said Rehn.

瑞恩说：“根据这项预估，今年年底至明年年初的时候，GDP的增长将处于停滞阶段，而实际上一些成员国还将经历经济收缩。”

Rehn called on five EU members - Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta and Poland - to cut their budgets or risk facing sanctions. He also summed up International worries about the ailing region.

瑞恩要求欧盟5个成员国--比利时、塞浦路斯、匈牙利、马尔他和波兰削减他们的预算，否则就将面临制裁。他概括了国际社会对这个衰退的地区的担忧。

"Concern about the sovereign debt crisis in several euro-area member states, together with the weakening global economic conditions, have led to a sharp fall in confidence since April this year," said Rehn.

瑞恩说：“自从今年4月以来，国际社会对欧元区几个成员国发生的主权债务危机以及正在恶化的全球经济状况感到担心，这已导致人们信心的大幅下降。”

Rehn is only the latest official sounding a warning. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is urging "clarity" from Italy and Greece, which face political as well as economic turmoil. And noting the sluggish growth and high unemployment in the United States, she is warning of a "lost decade" ahead for the world economy.

瑞恩只是发出这项警告的最后一位官员。国际货币基金组织总裁拉加德正在敦促意大利和希腊“局势明朗化”，这两个国家都面临政治和经济动乱。注意到美国的经济增长缓慢以及高失业率，她发出了世界经济将会进入“迷失的10年”的警告。"Our sense is that if we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of a downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and a potential collapse of global demand," said Lagarde.

拉加德说：“我们感到，如果我们不采取大胆的行动，如果我们不联合行动，全球经济将面临螺旋式下滑的风险，造成局势不确定、金融动荡和可能出现全球需求崩溃的困境。”

A Reuters report said officials from Germany and France have discussed a fundamental overhaul of the European Union, to create a smaller, more integrated eurozone group compared to the rest of the 27-member EU. Officially, however, both France and Germany say it is essential the eurozone remains intact.

路透社的一项报导说，德国和法国的官员已讨论了对欧盟进行根本性的全面改革，创造一个相对于欧盟中的其他国家而言较小并且更加融合的欧元区组织，目前欧盟一共有27个成员国。然而，法国和德国的官员在正式的场合则说，现存的欧元区保持完整是很重要的。

Additionally, analyst Philippe Moreau Defarges, of the Paris-based French Institute of International Relations, said creating these two European systems would be problematic in practice.

设在巴黎的法国国际关系研究所的分析员德法奇说，创建两个欧洲体系在实践中是会出问题的。

"It's very difficult because the juridical issue… in English you say 'the devil is in the details' - I would say what is important is in the details. It means that, of course, you can imagine a very ambitious scheme, very ambitious modification on the paper, but when you want to implement that… it's much more difficult," said Defarges.

德法奇说：“这是很困难的，因为有司法管辖权的问题。英语中有句成语叫作‘细节决定一切’。我想说的也是，细节十分重要。这就是说，你可以设想一个非常雄心勃勃的计划，可以在纸上进行雄心勃勃的修改，但当你想实施它的时候，那就难办多了。”

What is certain is that the eurozone crisis is likely to dominate the news here for the months to come, with pressure growing for European leaders to come up with a comprehensive and sustainable solution.

可以肯定的是，欧元区危机很可能在今后几个月仍然是此间的一个主要新闻，欧洲领导人受到越来越大的压力，要求他们拿出一种全面和可持续性的解决方案。