BEC商务英语阅读材料：欧洲能管住互联网吗

In Paris on Tuesday, Europe’s digital economy ministers will meet to discuss the future. Their agenda should be obvious. The internet has been the bright spot in an otherwise bleak EU economy. The eurozone economy is expected to contract by 0.4 per cent in 2013. By contrast, the internet economy in the G20 countries is forecast to grow by 8 per cent each year for the next five years.

The internet has lowered barriers to entry and made it easier than ever for people to set up their own businesses and to become entrepreneurs. In Europe, we already have best-in-class tech businesses such as Swedish music streaming service Spotify, Finnish games developer Supercell, French display advertising business Criteo and British companies such as Just Eat, Mind Candy and Zoopla. The “internet economy” is also much broader than many people realise. Every business is an internet business to some extent. Many of our best-known, global companies are using digital innovation to bring better products and services to their customers.

The agenda for European governments should be clear: concentrate on policies that enable new business creation and encourage established businesses to innovate through technology. Create incentives for risk-taking to counter the worrying decline in venture capital investment. Make it quick and easy to start your own company and take the stigma out of failure by creating incentives that encourage entrepreneurs to try again. Embrace trade and fair competition and back innovation.

The French government is tabling a series of measures designed to encourage growth and innovation. Many make sense and echo efforts we are pursuing here in the UK. But if measures pertaining to new regulation and taxation are as reported, they appear to be both protectionist in nature and potentially damaging to future innovation and global trade.

For example, it sounds sensible to have US companies pay more tax in Europe. But the fact is we have a global tax system that taxes multinational companies where they create value.Indeed, the G20 and OECD are currently reviewing measures to reform the taxation of global companies.

学习指南：

1. Word of the day

entrepreneur： one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise 创业者，企业家

小编注：entrepreneur是指人，通常用来表示企业家，承包人，创业者。有一个由它派生而出的词entrepreneurship则是指创业精神，企业家精神，企业家身份。这点大家要学会区别分辨。

2. Phrase of the day

contract by：If something contracts by a certain extent, the size of it will become smaller. 收缩，变小

e.g：The Thai economy is forecast to contract by as much as four percent this year, leaving as many as two million unemployed.

例：据预测，泰国经济今年收缩的幅度可能会高达四个百分点，失业人口可能会多达两百万。

小编注：contract by是“收缩了”，而contract to是“收缩到”，两者意思有区别，注意区分。

3. Sentence of the day

But if measures pertaining to new regulation and taxation are as reported, they appear to be both protectionist in nature and potentially damaging to future innovation and global trade.

但如果有关新的监管规则以及税收制度的措施与报道一致，这些措施在本质上似乎属于贸易保护主义，并对未来的创新活动以及全球贸易有潜在破坏作用。

小编注：这句话比较长，要看懂就先要对句子的成分进行划分。首先可以看出这是一个条件状语从句，主句在逗号之后。主句从句分别划分主谓宾、定状补即可。这句话主句主语是they，指代measures。这里还有一个词要注意一下，protectionist的意思是贸易保护主义，这里是根据上下文进行的意译，原意并没有贸易之义。

4. Cultural point of the day

欧元区 欧洲联盟成员中使用欧盟的统一货币——欧元的国家区域。1999年1月1日，欧盟国家开始实行单一货币欧元和在实行欧元的国家实施统一货币政策。2002年7月，欧元成为欧元区唯一的合法货币。欧元区共有18个成员国，包括奥地利、比利时 、芬兰 、法国 、德国 、爱尔兰、意大利、卢森堡、荷兰 、葡萄牙 、西班牙 、希腊 、斯洛文尼亚、塞浦路斯、马耳他 、斯洛伐克、爱沙尼亚、拉脱维亚，人口超过3亿3千万。受欧债危机影响，欧元区自2008年以来经济陷入持续衰退。2012年10月8日，欧洲稳定机制(ESM)启动，向债务缠身的欧元区主权国家提供贷款。

5. Translation of the day

For example, it sounds sensible to have US companies pay more tax in Europe. But the fact is we have a global tax system that taxes multinational companies where they create value.

例如，提高美国企业在欧洲的税收负担听起来或许合理。但事实上我们拥有一个全球税收体系，跨国公司在哪里创造价值，就在哪里纳税。

小编注：这句话的最后部分翻译非常出彩。定语从句我们往往会翻译成形容词性的词，但是这里因为主句本身就已经很长了，因此用了翻译经常用的切分翻译法，化繁为简，变成两句非常整齐精短的句子。这样的翻译方法值得大家借鉴。

参考翻译：

In Paris on Tuesday, Europe’s digital economy ministers will meet to discuss the future. Their agenda should be obvious. The internet has been the bright spot in an otherwise bleak EU economy. The eurozone economy is expected to contract by 0.4 per cent in 2013. By contrast, the internet economy in the G20 countries is forecast to grow by 8 per cent each year for the next five years.

10月1日，欧洲负责管理数字经济的部长们将齐聚巴黎商讨未来。他们的议题应当非常明确。在整体黯淡的欧盟(EU)经济中，互联网一直是个亮点。预计2013年欧元区经济将收缩0.4%。与之形成对比的是，未来五年中二十国集团(G20)互联网经济的年均增幅预计将达到8%。

The internet has lowered barriers to entry and made it easier than ever for people to set up their own businesses and to become entrepreneurs. In Europe, we already have best-in-class tech businesses such as Swedish music streaming service Spotify, Finnish games developer Supercell, French display advertising business Criteo and British companies such as Just Eat, Mind Candy and Zoopla. The “internet economy” is also much broader than many people realise. Every business is an internet business to some extent. Many of our best-known, global companies are using digital innovation to bring better products and services to their customers.

互联网降低了市场准入的门槛，并使人们创建自己的公司以及成为企业家比以往任何时候都要容易。欧洲已经拥有了一批业内领先的技术公司，比如瑞典的流媒体音乐服务公司Spotify、芬兰游戏开发商Supercell，法国展示广告公司Criteo以及Just Eat、Mind Candy和Zoopla等英国公司。“互联网经济”的范畴也比很多人所意识到的更为宽泛。在某种程度上，每家企业都是互联网公司。我们所熟知的很多全球化企业都在通过数字化创新来为客户提供更好的产品和服务。

The agenda for European governments should be clear: concentrate on policies that enable new business creation and encourage established businesses to innovate through technology. Create incentives for risk-taking to counter the worrying decline in venture capital investment. Make it quick and easy to start your own company and take the stigma out of failure by creating incentives that encourage entrepreneurs to try again. Embrace trade and fair competition and back innovation.

欧洲政府的目标应该是明确的：重点关注能推动新企业诞生以及鼓励现有企业通过技术实现创新的政策措施。制定激励机制鼓励人们勇担风险，以对抗风险资本投资规模令人担忧的下降趋势;使个人能够方便快捷地创建自己的公司;制定鼓励企业家再次尝试的激励措施，使创业失败不再是“污点”;促进贸易和公平竞争，支持创新活动。

The French government is tabling a series of measures designed to encourage growth and innovation. Many make sense and echo efforts we are pursuing here in the UK. But if measures pertaining to new regulation and taxation are as reported, they appear to be both protectionist in nature and potentially damaging to future innovation and global trade.

法国政府正在出台一系列措施，旨在推动经济增长和创新活动。其中的很多举措都很合理，并与英国正在推行的举措异曲同工。但如果有关新的监管规则以及税收制度的措施与报道一致，这些措施在本质上似乎属于贸易保护主义，并对未来的创新活动以及全球贸易有潜在破坏作用。

For example, it sounds sensible to have US companies pay more tax in Europe. But the fact is we have a global tax system that taxes multinational companies where they create value. Indeed, the G20 and OECD are currently reviewing measures to reform the taxation of global companies.

例如，提高美国企业在欧洲的税收负担听起来或许合理。但事实上我们拥有一个全球税收体系，跨国公司在哪里创造价值，就在哪里纳税。二十国集团和经合组织(OECD)目前正在审核改革跨国公司税收制度的具体举措。