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Will the European Union make it? The question would have sounded strange not

游客2023-09-05  75
问题     Will the European Union make it? The question would have sounded strange not long ago. Now even the project’s greatest cheerleaders talk of a continent facing a "Bermuda triangle" of debt, demographic decline and lower growth.
    As well as those chronic problems, the EU faces an acute crisis in its economic core, the 16 countries that use the single currency. Markets have lost faith that the euro zone’s economies, weaker or stronger, will one day converge thanks to the discipline of sharing a single currency, which denies uncompetitive members the quick fix of devaluation.
    Yet the debate about how to save Europe’s single currency from disintegration is stuck. It is stuck because the euro zone’s dominant powers, France and Germany, agree on the need for greater harmonisation within the euro zone, but disagree about what to harmonise.
    Germany thinks the euro must be saved by stricter rules on borrowing, spending and competitiveness, backed by quasi-automatic (半自动的) sanctions for governments that stray. These might include threats to freeze EU funds for poorer regions and EU mega-projects, and even the suspension of a country’s voting rights in EU ministerial councils. It insists that economic coordination should involve all 27 members of the EU club, among whom there is a small majority for free-market liberalism and economic rigour; in the inner core alone, Germany fears, a small majority favour French interference.
    A "southern" camp headed by France wants something different: "European economic government" within an inner core of euro-zone members. Translated, that means politicians intervening in monetary policy and a system of redistribution from richer to poorer members, via cheaper borrowing for governments through common Eurobonds or complete fiscal transfers. Finally, figures close to the French government have murmured, euro-zone members should agree to some fiscal and social harmonisation: e.g., curbing competition in corporate-tax rates or labour costs.
    It is too soon to write off the EU. It remains the world’s largest trading block. At its best, the European project is remarkably liberal: built around a single market of 27 rich and poor countries, its internal borders are far more open to goods, capital and labour than any comparable trading area. It is an ambitious attempt to blunt the sharpest edges of globalisation, and make capitalism kind and gentle.
    The problem is that the "European social model" has become, too often, a synonym (同义词)for a very expensive way of doing things. It has also become an end in itself, with some EU leaders calling for Europe to grow purely in order to maintain its social-welfare systems. That is a pretty depressing call to arms: become more dynamic so Europe can still afford old-age pensions and unemployment benefits. [br] The French proposal of handling the crisis implies that______.
选项 A、poor countries are more likely to get funds
B、strict monetary policy will be applied to poor countries
C、loans will be readily available to rich countries
D、rich countries will basically control Eurobonds
答案 A
解析 根据题干中的French将本题出处定位到第5段。首句提到，一个由法国为首的“南部”阵营却想要不同的东西：在欧元区内的“欧盟经济政府”。接着解释说，这就意味着一群干预货币政策的政客，和一套在富国和穷国之间重新分配财富的体系，这主要是通过共同的欧洲债券或者彻底的税收转移来实现向政府提供更廉价的贷款。[A]“穷国更可能得到贷款”是基于对第2句中的a system of redistribution from richer to poorer members正确理解上的，故为答案。[B]“严格的货币政策应用于穷国”、[C]“富国可以贷款”和[D]“基本上是富国在控制欧洲债券”均不能从文中推断出，故排除。
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