歐洲不應(yīng)試圖管制互聯(lián)網(wǎng)

　　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.

　　學(xué)習(xí)指南：

　　1. Word of the day

　　entrepreneur： one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise創(chuàng)業(yè)者，企業(yè)家

　　小編注：entrepreneur是指人，通常用來表示企業(yè)家，承包人，創(chuàng)業(yè)者。有一個由它派生而出的詞entrepreneurship則是指創(chuàng)業(yè)精神，企業(yè)家精神，企業(yè)家身份。這點大家要學(xué)會區(qū)別分辨。

　　2. Phrase of the day

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

　　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：據(jù)預(yù)測，泰國經(jīng)濟(jì)今年收縮的幅度可能會高達(dá)四個百分點，失業(yè)人口可能會多達(dá)兩百萬。

　　小編注：contract by是“收縮了”，而contract to是“收縮到”，兩者意思有區(qū)別，注意區(qū)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.

　　但如果有關(guān)新的監(jiān)管規(guī)則以及稅收制度的措施與報道一致，這些措施在本質(zhì)上似乎屬于貿(mào)易保護(hù)主義，并對未來的創(chuàng)新活動以及全球貿(mào)易有潛在破壞作用。

　　小編注：這句話比較長，要看懂就先要對句子的成分進(jìn)行劃分。首先可以看出這是一個條件狀語從句，主句在逗號之后。主句從句分別劃分主謂賓、定狀補(bǔ)即可。這句話主句主語是they，指代measures。這里還有一個詞要注意一下，protectionist的意思是貿(mào)易保護(hù)主義，這里是根據(jù)上下文進(jìn)行的意譯，原意并沒有貿(mào)易之義。

　　4. Cultural point of the day

　　歐元區(qū) 歐洲聯(lián)盟成員中使用歐盟的統(tǒng)一貨幣歐元的國家區(qū)域。1999年1月1日，歐盟國家開始實行單一貨幣歐元和在實行歐元的國家實施統(tǒng)一貨幣政策。2002年7月，歐元成為歐元區(qū)唯一的合法貨幣。歐元區(qū)共有18個成員國，包括奧地利、比利時 、芬蘭 、法國 、德國 、愛爾蘭、意大利、盧森堡、荷蘭 、葡萄牙 、西班牙 、希臘 、斯洛文尼亞、塞浦路斯、馬耳他 、斯洛伐克、愛沙尼亞、拉脫維亞，人口超過3億3千萬。受歐債危機(jī)影響，歐元區(qū)自2008年以來經(jīng)濟(jì)陷入持續(xù)衰退。2012年10月8日，歐洲穩(wěn)定機(jī)制(ESM)啟動，向債務(wù)纏身的歐元區(qū)主權(quán)國家提供貸款。

　　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，提高美國企業(yè)在歐洲的稅收負(fù)擔(dān)聽起來或許合理。但事實上我們擁有一個全球稅收體系，跨國公司在哪里創(chuàng)造價值，就在哪里納稅。

　　小編注：這句話的最后部分翻譯非常出彩。定語從句我們往往會翻譯成形容詞性的詞，但是這里因為主句本身就已經(jīng)很長了，因此用了翻譯經(jīng)常用的切分翻譯法，化繁為簡，變成兩句非常整齊精短的句子。這樣的翻譯方法值得大家借鑒。