英译汉

　　The Other Presidential Race

　　Europeans are as fascinated as the rest of the world by this year's American presidential election. 1 Rather fewer are aware that this autumn the European Union will choose a president of its own. The job being created by the new Lisbon Treaty 2 is that of the first permanent president of the European Council 3, the body that brings together all 27 heads of EU governments. The president may well turn into the EU's public face in dealing with, among others, his American counterpart. 4

　　Unfortunately, the EU has a history of dreadful rows 5 over top jobs. Remember Britain's veto in 1994 of Jean-Luc Dehaene 6 as president of the European Commission (the EU's executive branch), or the failed Franco-German attempt 7 to squeeze a later Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, into the job in 20048 Worst was the summit to launch the euro in May 1998, which degenerated into a 12-hour squabble over who should run the European Central Bank. 9 It was settled by a dubious deal to split the eight-year term 10 between a Dutchman, Wim Duisenberg 11, and a Frenchman, Jean-Claude Trichet 12.

　　Such a record fills one with foreboding over the choice of the first EU president. And this is not the only top job in play. Under Lisbon, there will also be a quasi-foreign minister who will double up as the external-affairs commissioner. 13 In 2009 there will be new presidents of the European Commission and of the European Parliament. The task of negotiating over these posts will fall to President Nicolas Sarkozy, since France holds the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2008.14

　　Circling around these plums 15 has begun. There are delicacies of timing and consultation: the foreign minister will replace an existing commissioner, and the European Parliament, to be re-elected in June 2009, will want a say in at least three of the jobs, Most of the choices will be made by majority vote and not, as in the past, by unanimity, ending the right of veto – though nobody would want to be picked over the objections of a big EU country.

　　Speculation over candidates to be European Council president is rife 16 even though the functions of the job remain fuzzy, as does its relationship to governments that still hold the rotating EU presidency. But that uncertainty may mean the role is determined by the personality of its first holder. Last year Mr. Sarkozy hinted that he would back Britain's Tony Blair for the job. Since Mr. Blair pushed for the post's creation in the first place, he might seem suitable. But like all front-runners, he has met opposition: because he joined America in Iraq, 17 because he comes from a big EU country, because he is not pro-European enough, because Britain is not in the euro or the Schengen passport-free zone 18.

　　Hence a trickle of other names: Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker, Austria's Wolfgang Schussel, Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Ireland's Bertie Ahern. Some are tarred by scandal (Mr. Ahern) ; others routinely deny any interest in the job ( Mr. Fogh Rasmussen). 19 As in the Eurovision song contest 20, neighbours often back each other: the Germans lean towards Mr. Schussel, the Belgians like Mr. Juncker and Scandinavians favour Mr. Fogh Rasmussen. Because a majority of EU governments are from the centre-right (now including Italy's), the first president may be too. But if Jose Manuel Barroso 21 of Portugal is reselected as president of the European Commission, which looks likely, a centre-left European Council president might be a good balance. 22

　　As for the putative foreign minister, the incumbent, Javier Solana of Spain, could continue in the job, certainly for the first year or so. But he is not universally approved of, so other names are also in the frame. 23 They include Carl Bildt of Sweden, Michel Bamier of France, Belgium's Mr. Verhofstadt and even Joschka Fischer, a former German foreign minister. 24

　　In the past the choices might have been made by Mr Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel, maybe in cahoots with Britain's Gordon Brown. The views of this trio, especially Ms Merkel, still matter. But the EU now has 27 members, including ten east European countries. That makes agreeing on one job, let alone four, harder. It may favour a conventional presidential pick: Mr Juncker or, if he is cancelled out by Mr Blair, Mr Schussel.

　　参考译文

　　另一场总统选举

　　和世界上其他地区的民众一样，欧洲人也为今年的美国总统选举着迷，但是，很少有人知道今年秋天欧盟也将选出自己的主席。根据新近签订的《里斯本条约》规定所设立的这个新职位是欧洲理事会第一位常任主席，该理事会汇集了欧盟27个成员国的政府首脑。在与其他外国首脑，特别是美国总统打交道时，理事会主席将很有可能成为欧盟的代言人。

　　不幸的是，欧盟在高层职务人选问题上历来都是争吵不断。还记得1994年英国对任命让一吕克·德阿纳为欧盟委员会(欧盟的执行机构)主席这一决定所投的反对票吗?还记得2004年法德两国把后来的比利时首相居伊·付思达硬塞到这个位置上的企图是怎么落空的吗?最糟糕的是1998年5月启动欧元的峰会，这场会议在欧洲中央银行行长的人选问题上足足争论了12个小时。最后，纷争以一个暧昧的交易收场，即由荷兰人维姆·德伊森贝赫和法国人让一克劳德·特里谢分享这八年的任期。

　　这样的不良记录，不免使人对第一任欧洲理事会主席的遴选有一种不祥的预感。况且，这还不是欧盟需要产生的唯一高层职务。根据《里斯本条约》，欧盟还将设立一个类似外交部长的职务，该部长将兼任外交事务专员。2009年还将选出欧盟委员会和欧洲议会的新主席。由于法国在2008年下半年担任欧盟轮值主席国，对这些职位的人选进行协商的任务自然将落到了法国总统尼古拉·萨科奇身上。

　　围绕这些关差而展开的博弈已然拉开了序幕，而此时正值时间安排和协议磋商的微妙之际：一方面，新任外交部长将取代现任的外交事务专员，另一方面，将于2009年6月产生的新一届欧洲议会也会要求至少对这三个职位要有发言权。对绝大多数职位的抉择将采用“简单多数”的表决方式来进行，而不像过去那样需要获得一致通过，否决权的使用将从此终结——不过，没有人蒂望自己在任何欧盟大国的反对声中当选。

　　目前，对欧洲理事会主席候选人的种种猜测已经满城风雨，尽管该职务的具体职能及其与欧盟轮值主席国政府的关系依然还很模糊。然而，这种不确定性可能意味着首位任职者的个人特质将决定这个角色的具体定位。去年，萨科奇曾暗示他将力挺英国前首相托尼·布莱尔担任此职。由于该职位是由布莱尔首先力主设立的，因此他倒不失为一个合适的人选。但是，正如所有排名在前的竞争者一样，他也遭遇了反对的阻力：因为他在伊拉克问题上与美国同流合污，因为他来自于欧盟大国，因为他不够亲欧，也因为英国既不是欧元区又不是申根护照自由区成员。

　　由此又有了一长串其他名字：卢森堡首相让一克劳德·容克，奥地利前总理沃尔夫冈o许塞尔，丹麦首相安诺斯·福格·拉斯穆森以及爱尔兰前总理伯蒂·埃亨。他们中有的丑闻缠身，如伯蒂·埃亨;有的则淡淡地否认自己对这一职位的兴趣，比如福格·拉斯穆森。和欧洲电视歌曲大赛一样，邻国通常彼此关照，相互支持：德国人倾向于许塞尔，比利时人亲睐容克，而斯堪的纳维亚人则更偏爱福格·拉斯穆森。因为欧盟成员国政府(现在还包括意大利)大多属于中右派，首位欧洲理事会主席大概也是如此。然而，如果葡萄牙的仃塞·曼努埃尔·巴罗佐再次当选欧盟委员会主席的话(这是很可能的)，一位中左派的欧洲理事会主席或许是一种不错的平衡。

　　至于想象中的外交部长，现任欧盟外交事务专员的西班牙人索拉纳或许会留任该职位，至少一年左右。但是他也并非无人反对，因此还有一些其他名字在关注之列，其中包括瑞典外长卡尔·比尔特、法国农业部长米歇尔·巴尼耶和比利时前首相付思达，甚至德国的前外长费舍尔也在其中。

　　如果在过去，这些职务或许已经被萨科奇，德国的安吉拉·默克尔，也许还有英国的戈登·布朗定于密室了。这三大巨头，特别是默克尔的意见现在依然很重要。但是欧盟成员国如今已达27个，包括十个东欧国家。这样，要在一个职位的人选上达成一致更为艰难，就更不用说四个职位了。这种情况也许会促成一位中规中矩的主席人选：容克或是许塞尔，如果前者被布莱尔顶出局的话。

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