The European Union has been far more successful than anyone expected when the Treaty of Rome was signed half a century ago. But, argues John Peet (interviewed here), it now has three big problems to solve

我们都没想到，在半个世纪前《罗马条约》签订之后，欧盟的发展会如此成功。但是，约翰-皮特（采访对象）争辩说，如今正有三大问题等待解决。

ON MARCH 25th 1957 a gaggle of leaders from six European countries (France, West Germany, Italy and the Benelux trio) met in the great hall of the Horatii and the Curiatii in Rome's Capitoline museum.Behind them two 17th-century frescoes depicted ancient Rome's bloody history: a suitable backdrop, since one of their concerns was to prevent a recurrence of Europe's internecine wars. They signed a treaty to establish a European Economic Community (EEC), soon to become known as the common market. Next weekend the present crop of European Union leaders will gather in Berlin (because Germany holds the rotating EU presidency) to mark the 50th anniversary of this historic step towards European integration.

1957年3月25日，一群分别来自法国、西德、意大利和比荷卢联盟这六个欧洲国家的领导人在罗马中心博物馆的霍雷缇以及科拉缇大厅举行会晤。在他们身后的两幅17世纪壁画上，古罗马血腥的历史犹如眼前。这是一幅再合适不过的背景画，因为如何防止欧洲自相残杀的血腥战争再次上演正是他们所关心的问题之一。他们签订了一份协定来建立欧洲经济共同体（欧共体），不久这个体系演变成为公共市场。下周末，现在这组欧盟领导人将在柏林聚首（因为德国将接替轮流制的欧盟主席职位），这标志着欧洲一体化这个历史性跨越的时刻——五十周年纪念日的来临。

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, wants the Berlin summit to issue a ringing declaration about the values and successes of the EU. She sees this as a way to relaunch the “European project”, which many think has been in serious trouble ever since French and Dutch voters rejected the draft EU constitution in the summer of 2005. Shortly afterwards Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, which then held the EU's presidency, declared solemnly that “the EU is not in crisis; it is in deep crisis.” Jacques Delors, who was president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1994, says that the present “crisis” is the worst in the project's history—worse than the period of Charles de Gaulle's “empty chair” in 1965, or Margaret Thatcher's persistent demands for “our own money back” between 1979 and 1984.

德国总理安吉拉-默克尔想要在柏林首脑会议上发表响亮的宣言，该宣言有关于欧盟存在的价值以及所取得的成就。她认为这是重新开始“欧洲计划”的一条出路，因为自法国和荷兰公民于2005年夏季投票否决了欧盟宪法草案时起，许多人认为这项计划已经碰上了大麻烦。不久，后来接替欧盟主席职位的卢森堡首相吉恩- 克洛德庄严宣告:"欧盟不是处于危机之中;而是处于深重的危机之中。”1985年至1994年担任欧盟委员会主席的捷科-德勒认为，如今的“危机”是自该项计划发布以来最深重的危机，它比1965年戴高乐的“空椅子”或者1979至1984年间玛格丽特-撒切尔夫人一味固执地要求“把钱还给我们”这两个更糟糕。

Yet today's difficulties should not be allowed to obscure Europe's achievements of the past 50 years. True federalists actually saw the Treaty of Rome as a move away from the building of a European superstate that they had hoped would develop from the European Coal and Steel Community, set up in 1951. But in fact the EEC grew out of two other events: the French National Assembly's rejection of the proposed European Defence Community in 1954 and the Suez crisis of 1956. The first pointed to a reassertion of nation-states at the heart of Europe; the second led France to conclude that a European community was in its vital interest.

然而，如今的困难不应遮掩了欧洲50年来所取得的成就。从1951年欧洲煤钢共同体成立后，真正的联邦党人一直希望能在这个基础上发展出一个欧洲超级大国。可后来他们确实把《罗马条约》视为一条摆脱创造这个欧洲超级大国的逃生路。但是事实上，欧共体是由另两个事件发生而来：一个是指1954年法国国民议会否决了拟议中的欧洲防卫共同体；另一个是指1956年的苏伊士运河危机。前者是指处于欧洲心脏地位的民族国家发出的再声明；后者让法国得到了一个教训，即欧洲共同体只关心其切身利益。

A bigger objection to the EEC was that it covered only a small part of Europe. Soviet-dominated eastern Europe was excluded, as were fascist Spain and Portugal, because they were not democracies. But Britain and others chose to stand aside, either because they disliked the political integration implicit in the new grouping or because they wanted to preserve their neutrality. Indeed, two years after the Treaty of Rome came into force, seven countries (Austria, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland) set up the rival European Free-Trade Association (EFTA). “Seven and Six” was how this newspaper greeted the news.

对欧共体来说还存在着一个更大的异议，即它所覆盖的范围只占欧洲的一小部分。苏维埃制的东欧国家须排除在外，比如法西斯统治下的西班牙与葡萄牙，因为他们不是民主政体。而英国以及其他国家躲在一边，可能是因为他们不喜欢隐藏在这个新组合下的政治一体化，也可能是因为他们只是想保持它们的中立性而已。确实，《罗马条约》生效两年后，七个国家（奥地利，英国，丹麦，挪威，葡萄牙，瑞典和瑞士）建立了竞争性的欧洲自由贸易联盟（欧贸联）。“七和六”就成为了报纸碰到此类新闻的定义。

Fifty years later the European Economic Community has changed out of all recognition, having metamorphosed into the European Union and grown far beyond the original six members. Despite the EFTA experiment, Britain applied for membership only four years after the Treaty of Rome, but was blocked by de Gaulle's veto and did not join until 1973, along with Denmark and Ireland.

五十年之后，欧洲共同体已经脱胎换骨，变成了欧盟而且把范围扩至远超出原本的六个会员国。尽管作了创立欧洲自由贸易协会这个尝试，但在《罗马条约》签订后的第五年，英国就申请成为其会员，不过这一度受戴高乐否决阻碍，直到1973年才与丹麦和爱尔兰一同成功加入该协会。

Several waves of further expansion followed, including Spain and Portugal in 1986. The biggest of all saw the admission of ten new members, including many ex-communist central European countries, on May 1st 2004. At the start of this year Romania and Bulgaria became the EU's 26th and 27th members. Plenty of others are clamouring to be let in. The only countries that have chosen to stay out even though they would instantly qualify for membership are Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

几轮深入扩张的浪潮席卷而来，其中牵扯到了1986年时的西班牙和葡萄牙。2004年5月1日，最重要的国家亲眼目睹了十个新成员获准加入组织，其中包括许多前共产主义中心的欧洲国家。今年年初，罗马尼亚与保加利亚分别成为了欧盟的第26及第27个成员国。其它许多国家也正嚷嚷着要加入组织。只有冰岛、挪威和瑞士选择不与欧盟沾边，即使他们即刻就能有资格成为会员。

The European Union has also moved far beyond the economic sphere. The completion of the single market was set in train only in the 1980s and remains a work in progress. But just as the American government used the constitution's interstate commerce clause to expand its powers, so the European institutions have exploited single-market rules to extend their responsibilities into such areas as social policy, welfare and the environment. Along the way the EU has acquired a single currency, a common foreign policy, a passport-free travel zone and policies on justice and home affairs, plus a nascent defence alliance with its own military-planning staff.

欧盟也早已跨越了经济领域的界限。早在1980年，单一市场已准备就绪要正式形成并将其进行下去。但是只要美国政府利用宪法中州与州之间的贸易条款来扩大它的权力范围，欧洲的机构就要充分利用单一市场的规定来把它们的职责延伸到诸如社会政策、社会福利以及社会环境这些方面。沿着这种发展方式，欧盟已经统一了货币、制定了共同的对外政策、形成了免护照旅游区域，它也有一套针对司法和内政事务的方针政策，另外，它还有一个逐渐成形的防卫联盟，这由它自己计划军事行动的人员组成。

This does not sound like an organisation in deep crisis. Even in the past two years the EU has agreed on a seven-year budget and set out ambitious plans for an energy policy and for tackling climate change. It has sent troops as far afield as Aceh and Congo and co-ordinated big national deployments in Lebanon. It has started membership negotiations with Croatia and, most momentously, with Turkey. Claims that this club has been unable to function since 2005 seem overblown.

这看起来不像一个陷入深重危机的组织。甚至在过去的两年里，欧盟已经在一项长达七年之久的预算上达成了一致意见，并且将为一项能源政策以及解决气候变化开始制定艰巨的计划。远至战场亚齐、刚果以及黎巴嫩境内同等大的国家型部署，欧盟也已派遣了军队。它已与克罗地亚和最为重要的土耳其展开会员协商。有人断言，欧盟从2005年起就不会再起作用了，这种说法听起来也太过分了。

The 50-year itch

五十年之痒

Yet the EU does face three huge, related problems. The first is what to do about its draft constitution, which was signed in October 2004 in the very room that witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Rome. The constitution's declared purpose was to improve the functioning of the institutions, to clarify the distribution of powers and to bring the union closer to its citizens. But because it was turned down in the French and Dutch referendums, the treaty has not been ratified.

然而欧盟确实该面对三个巨大且相互联系的问题了。首当其冲的是如何处理宪法草案。该草案签署于2004年十月在一个曾签署过《罗马条约》的房间内。公然地，出台这个宪法草案的目的是要促进制度的发挥功能作用，并阐明权力的分配以及让这个联盟更亲民。但是因为它在法国和荷兰的全民公投中被否决了，所以并没有正式生效。

Ms Merkel hopes that the Berlin declaration will not only relaunch the EU but also start resuscitating the constitution. Yet the task she has taken on is immense. Any new treaty must not only be unanimously agreed on but also ratified by all of the union's 27 members before it can take effect.

默克尔小姐不仅希望《柏林宣言》能再度开创欧盟新局面，而且也希望重新开始复兴宪法章程。但是她肩上的重任是艰巨的。任何新条款都不仅要使所有的成员国对此达成一致意见，而且还要取得他们的批准方能生效。

That seems much less likely to happen because of the second big problem facing the union: popular disenchantment with the project. As Mr Delors notes, there is no dream, no vision that strikes a chord with today's European citizens in the way that reconciliation and an end to war did 50 years ago. Most of today's leaders, he complains, devote their time to attacking Brussels and all its works, not to spreading the word about the EU's achievements.

这似乎不太可能发生，因为联盟面临着第二大问题：公众对该计划方案早就不作任何幻想了。正如德勒先生所指出，正如五十年前所做的——通过调解来终结战争，企图打乱如今欧洲公民的情绪心境实属妄想。他还抱怨说，现今大多数领导人把他们的时间枉费在袭击布鲁塞尔以及由其产生的一系列工作上，而不是去广泛宣传欧盟所取得的成就。

The mistrust of the union is perhaps most pronounced in Britain, but the regular opinion polls taken by Eurobarometer reveal high dissatisfaction with the union in other countries as well. In many of them, voters seem strongly opposed to further enlargement. The French and Dutch “no” to the constitution reflected this bleak mood. The new members are more enthusiastic about the union than the old ones, but even in them it is not hard to discover Eurosceptics.

在英国，这种对联盟所表现出的不信任也许是最为明显的，不过“欧洲晴雨表”发布的常规民意调查报告显示，在其他国家，人们也对联盟有极大不满。他们中的许多投票者似乎都强烈反对进一步扩大联盟。法国人、荷兰人均对宪法草案表示否决的态度也反映出了他们已经心灰意冷了。相比欧盟内的老成员，新成员反倒对联盟更有热情，但是他们中的人也不难发现那些欧洲怀疑主义者的踪迹。

This special report will weigh the chances of making progress with the EU constitution or devising some other “institutional settlement”, to use the current catchphrase in Brussels. It will consider how this is affecting plans to admit yet more new members. And it will assess the debate over how to persuade Europe's citizens to take a less jaundiced view of their union. But it will start by considering the union's third and perhaps most serious problem: the poor performance of its economies in recent years.

这次专题报告会权衡各种可能性，或许会在欧盟宪法方面取得进展，又或许制定其他“调整制度方案”（在此借用一下布鲁塞尔的标语）。专题报告也会考虑这项工作会如何影响计划方案来吸纳更多的新成员。当然，这次专题报告也将对关于如何说服欧洲公民对欧盟少些偏见的争论进行评定。然而，与此同时，也该想想欧盟第三大也或许是最严重的问题了，那就是，近年来它在经济发展上的表现差强人意。

It was the roaring economic growth of the EEC, above all else, that made it such a success in its early days. It was this economic dynamism, too, that lured first Britain and then all the others to apply for membership. Conversely, it was gloom about the economy, and particularly over persistent high unemployment, that played the biggest part in the rejection of the constitution and in the spread of Euroscepticism across the continent. If the EU is to flourish far beyond its 50th birthday, it is its economy that most needs attention.

早年欧盟刚成立时，它经济发展的速度非常之快，这也是欧盟取得成功最重要的一点。也正是这股经济发展动力推动着英国，并且后来促使其他国家来申请加入欧盟成为成员国。这时，相反地，经济情况却愁云惨淡，而且特别是持增不减的失业率，这也是之所以欧洲大陆上有人反对法案、有人持欧洲怀疑论的重要原因。如果欧盟想要在其50岁生日后的多年里仍然繁荣昌盛，那么最需关注的就是它的经济。

Mar 15th 2007

From The Economist print edition