金融时报:来自俄国的失望

来自俄国的失望

欧盟曾对俄国艰难加入WTO寄予厚望，然而热情迅速变成了熟悉的失望。本文作者是FT驻布鲁塞尔记者乔舒亚·查芬(Joshua Chaffin)。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

renege[rɪ'neɪg] v./n.食言，出牌违例

sparring ['spɑ:riŋ] v.对打

special levies 特别税费。俄罗斯今年9月对汽车征收报废回收费用，对外国品牌汽车收取的费用更高。

purportedly[pə:'pɔ:tidli] adv.据称地

stigma['stɪgmə] n.耻辱、烙印

eyeball to eyeball 面对面，对峙

ECIPE 欧洲国际政治经济中心(European centre For International Political Economy)

Russia’s WTO accession 2013年8月22日，作为GDP世界第11大国的俄罗斯正式加入WTO。据预计，俄罗斯将把进口关税从11.5%的平均水平降至7%。世界银行估计，加入WTO将为俄罗斯带来更多竞争和更多外商投资，从中期来看，这将为其经济带来每年490亿美元（相当于其国内生产总值(GDP)的3%）的提振。

Europe cools on Russia’s WTO accession (610 words)

Europe’s top trade official accused Russia of reneging on its commitments to the World Trade Organisation just three months after it joined the group, and warned “the clock is ticking” before EU legal action.

The comments from Karel De Gucht, the EU trade commissioner, set the stage for a tense visit in two weeks when Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is due to come to Brussels for a bilateral summit.

They also reveal how quickly the optimism that accompanied Russia’s accession to the WTO in August – after nearly 19 years of negotiations – has given way in Europe to a more familiar sense of frustration.

“Since Russia has become a member of the WTO they are doing exactly the opposite of what they are supposed to do or what they have been promising to do,” Mr De Gucht said in Brussels.

“At this moment in time, I’m rather upset about all this,” Mr De Gucht added, calling the developments “very disturbing.”

Brussels has been sparring with Moscow on several trade fronts in recent months, spanning products from wood to slaughtered pigs.

One of the biggest sources of irritation has been a new Russian law that introduces special levies to cover the cost of recycling cars. The law has been billed as an environmental initiative, but EU officials believe it is protectionist because it only applies to imports.

Brussels has also complained about Russia’s blanket ban on imported live animals from Europe – purportedly for health reasons – as well as Moscow’s decision to raise tariffs on hundreds of imported products in spite of joining the WTO.

Russia’s failure to appoint a WTO ambassador thus far has also led some trade officials and analysts to question Moscow’s commitment to its new club.

Viktor Kalmikov, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the EU, questioned the EU’s analysis of the auto recycling fee, and noted that Russia had its own list of complaints against the bloc over matters such as its chemicals regulations.

“What family does not have its quarrels?” he asked, adding: “We believe in the logic of the WTO. We believe in the rules of the WTO.”

Russia is the EU’s third-largest trading partner – after the US and China – but has long been a source of frustration for what EU officials regard as unpredictable, often protectionist, behaviour.

Brussels had championed its bid to join the WTO because it believed it would lock Moscow into a rules-based system that would encourage broader economic reforms and make it easier to resolve occasional disputes.

For Russia, gaining admission to the club removed the stigma of being the last major economy outside it, and was also supposed to help attract foreign investment to diversify an economy reliant on oil and gas exports.

Fredrik Erixon, a director of ECIPE, a Brussels-based think tank that specialises in trade, argued that the Kremlin was trying to avoid a political backlash at home by reinterpreting its WTO obligations.

“Russia entered without a clear idea of why it wants to belong to this club and it has no intention of participating in negotiations to free up trade, the prime purpose of the WTO,” he wrote in an email.

Mr De Gucht warned that his patience was running out, saying: “Either we see movement in this file in the coming weeks, or we will be forced to go to the WTO for dispute settlement. We are left no other choice.”

He also said EU officials would demand answers when they stand “eyeball to eyeball” with the Russian president during the summit, remarking: “I would be very interested to learn from Mr Putin himself what he has on his mind.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does “the clock is ticking” mean?

A. There's little time left for Russia to fufill its promises.

B. President Putin will arrive soon.

C. EU warns of legal actions against Russia.

D. Trade disputes between them are causing huge losses.

答案(1)

2.What is not true about Russia and the EU on the matter of WTO?

A. The EU has always been pessimistic about Russia's joining in.

B. Russia had engaged in 19 years of negotiations in order to join WTO.

C. Russia was accepted as the last major economy by WTO.

D. The EU and Russia are in the middle of several trade disputes.

答案(2)

3.The disputes between EU and Russia concern······

A. oil and gas trade

B. Russia's special levies on auto recycling

C. Russia's regulations on chemicals

D. the suitable candidate for Russia's ambassador to WTO

答案(3)

4.What is not correct about WTO?

A. Its headquarter in New York, World Trade Center, was destroyed on 9.11.

B. WTO is against protectionism.

C. Settling trade disputes is WTO's key function.

D. Help member states to free up trade is its prime purpose.

答案(4)

* * *

(1) 答案：C.EU warns of legal actions against Russia.

解释：不难看出C是正确的，文章第一段和倒数第二段讲到了这一内容。

(2) 答案：A.The EU has always been pessimistic about Russia's joining in.

解释：EU曾经支持俄国加入，because it believed it would lock Moscow into a rules-based system that would encourage broader economic reforms.中国加入世贸时发达国家对中国也寄与了同样的期望。BCD都是正确的。

(3) 答案：B.Russia's special levies on auto recycling

解释：俄罗斯以环境保护为由征收汽车报废回收税，欧盟认为这是保护主义行为。 A项石油和天然气贸易，目前欧盟和俄国对此并未产生争端。俄国加入WTO是想attract foreign investment to diversify an economy reliant on oil and gas exports. C项对化工制品的管制是俄罗斯对欧盟的抱怨。D项的真实情况是：俄国未能及时任命一位驻WTO大使让人觉得他们对WTO承诺不够重视。

(4) 答案：A.Its headquarter in New York, World Trade Center, was destroyed on 9.11.

解释：BCD是正确的。A是错误的，世贸组织的总部在瑞士日内瓦。