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　　The EU may be spending less, but the cost of running it is rising

　　歐盟也許會削減開支，但是運營成本在增加

　　THE European Union is on the verge of cutting its spending for the first time ever. A 3% cut in real terms will save 34 billion ($47 billion) from the seven-year budget framework for 2014-20. For Britain’s David Cameron, who pressed the hardest for a cut, this is a triumph. But every silver lining has a cloud: EU spending on administration will still rise, by a total of 8% in real terms.

　　歐盟是第一次面臨削減開支。按實值計算，削減3%意味著從7年期(2014-2020年)的預(yù)算框架中節(jié)省340億歐元(合470億美元)。對于堅決支持削減政策的英國首相大衛(wèi)·卡梅倫來說，這算是一大勝利。但并非事事如人愿：歐盟的行政費用仍將增加，按實值計算總計會達到八個百分點。

　　The sums involved are relatively small: the total budget is only 1% of EU GDP, and just 6% of this goes on administration. Yet it has political resonance. Taxpayers do not like paying for civil servants at the best of times. Spending more on Brussels bureaucrats at a time of deep recession and high unemployment is even harder to swallow.

　　所涉及的金額只是相對較小的一部分：整體預(yù)算是只占歐盟GDP的1%，可預(yù)算的6%會用于行政開支。然而這有著政治上的共鳴。即使是在最好的時代，納稅人也不愿意給公務(wù)員買單。而在經(jīng)濟嚴重衰退和高失業(yè)率的狀況下，多給布魯塞爾官員任何一分錢都比以往時候更難讓民眾接受。

　　A European Commission spokesman likens EU governments to a restaurant customer who wants more, better and cheaper food. But the EU institutions could do more and better for less. There is plenty of fat to trim: generous tax breaks, far higher average pay than in national governments and benefits that include a 16% expat top-up and payment for children’s education until they are 26.

　　歐盟委員會一發(fā)言人將歐盟政府比作餐館的食客，他們想要更多品質(zhì)更好的食物，卻希望價格更便宜。但是歐盟機構(gòu)可以做到這一點。因為有很多地方可以“瘦身”：慷慨地減免所得稅，遠比國家政府高的平均工資水平以及優(yōu)渥的福利待遇，這里的福利包括在國外工作的人追加16%的補貼，對歐盟官員子女的教育津貼的年限延長至26歲。

　　A rare chance to cut back was missed when staff regulations were renegotiated this year. Barring a few concessions, such as a 5% headcount cut by 2017 and a rise in the pension age to 66, reforms were few. Hardly any change was made to allowances, or to automatic promotions and salary rises, and there was no big pension reform, even though this is a growing concern for Brussels as well as for national governments.

　　今年人事條例再次協(xié)商的時候，錯失了一次難得的削減開支的機會。會議上做出了一些小讓步，比如：到2017年為止，裁員5%以及將退休年齡提至66歲，但除此之外，幾乎沒有什么改革。補貼或是自動升職和加薪方面幾乎沒有變動，而且官員的養(yǎng)老金方面也無大改革，無論是在歐盟還是各國政府，這方面的改革都是備受關(guān)注。

　　Trimming running costs is something most EU governments have been doing assiduously. Spain cut pay by 5% in 2010; Ireland did even more, cutting it by 5-15%. In Britain, as part of plans to cut costs by a third by 2015, the central government pay-bill was cut by6.3% in real terms between 2010-2013. Yet EU salaries have continued to rise in the past four years.

　　削減運營成本是大部分歐盟政府一直努力在做的事。2010年西班牙削減了5%的支出;愛爾蘭削減的更多，比例高達5%-15%。作為計劃的一部分，英國截至2015年將開支降低三分之一，2010-2013年的政府工資單按實值計算已經(jīng)削減了6.3%。但是過去四年，歐盟官員的薪金一直在增加。

　　If institutions that so often propose reforms do little at home, it gives less hope for changes in costlier policies. The Brussels defence is that administrative spending is “tiny”, so reducing it will make little difference. But the appearance of indulgence weakens the EU’s reputation at a time when most polls show citizens everywhere have lost faith in it.

　　假如機構(gòu)經(jīng)常提議改革卻不從自身做起的話，那么想對成本更高的政策做出變革的希望會更加渺茫。布魯塞爾的官員辯解稱，行政支出是“很小”的一部分，所以削減它并不會造成什么差別。但是，恣意放縱的表相一度弱化了歐盟的聲譽，許多的民調(diào)顯示各地的市民們都對歐盟失去了信心。

　　Later this month, European parliamentarians and their entourages are planning to travel to Strasbourg to vote through the rise in the EU’s administration budget. The 200mannualcost of this travelling circus is hardly huge, but most European taxpayers still see it for the incomprehensible extravagance it is.

　　本月下旬，歐洲議會議員和他們的隨行者正在計劃前往斯塔拉斯堡，就提高歐盟行政預(yù)算進行投票表決。每年用于巡回訪問的200億歐元的費用并不算是個大數(shù)目，但是許多歐洲納稅人仍然將其視做無法理喻的奢侈消費。