Brexit Britain will miss cheap funds for infrastructure
退欧将使英国失去廉价基建资金
广州英语翻译公司：昂温：英国退欧是典型的搬起石头砸自己脚，它将使英国被踢出欧洲投资银行，失去一个至关重要的投融资来源。
The economic and financial consequences of Britain’s decision to exit the EU are beginning to unfold. Sterling has plunged; the markets remain jittery; and investment decisions are on hold. All this was predicted, but no attention has been paid to the damaging consequences of the UK’s exclusion from the European Investment Bank if we leave the EU.
英国决定退欧的经济和金融后果正开始显现。英镑暴跌；金融市场仍神经紧张；投资决策被搁置。所有这些都被预见过，但迄今没人注意到英国被欧洲投资银行(European Investment Bank, EIB)除名将会带来的破坏性后果——如果英国脱离欧盟的话。广州英语翻译公司。
The EIB, the EU’s “house bank”, is the world’s largest multilateral lending institution, borrowing and lending twice as much as the World Bank. Founded under the Treaty of Rome of 1957, its shareholders are the EU member states and its primary function is to promote the balanced economic development of the EU.
作为欧盟的“政策银行”，欧洲投资银行是世界最大的多边贷款机构，其借贷规模是世界银行(World Bank)的两倍。欧洲投资银行根据1957年《罗马条约》(Treaty of Rome)创立，股东是欧盟各成员国，首要职能是促进欧盟经济平衡发展。
It does this by raising funds through bond issues on the world’s capital markets, and lending them long-term and on a non-profit basis for technically and financially viable projects deemed likely to promote economic development. No subsidy or direct call on the taxpayer is involved. The EIB raises its funds on the strength of the rating accorded to it by virtue of the capital provided (mostly subscribed rather than paid-up) by the member states.
欧洲投资银行在世界资本市场发行债券筹集资金，然后非营利基础上向那些被认为有可能促进经济发展的、在技术和财务上可行的项目提供长期贷款。这些贷款不涉及任何补贴或纳税人资金。欧洲投资银行能筹得资金，主要依赖靠各成员国提供的资本（多数为认缴而非实缴）所获得的评级。广州英语翻译公司。
Most of the EIB’s investment is in the member states and for infrastructure. There are few recent major European infrastructure projects in which the bank has not been involved. Since Britain became a shareholder in 1973 the EIB has invested heavily throughout the UK in such sectors as transport, energy, environment, social capital (education, housing and health), technical innovation and, through UK banks, in small and medium-sized businesses.
欧洲投资银行的大部分投资都投在各成员国，而且以基础设施项目为主。在欧洲近年的重大基础设施项目中，很少有该银行没参与的。自1973年英国成为股东以来，该行在英国各地进行了大量投资，涉及领域包括交通、能源、环境、社会资本（教育、住房和医疗）、技术创新，还通过英国的银行投资于中小型企业。
The projects have ranged from huge ones like the Channel tunnel, of which the EIB was the leading financier, the second Severn crossing, the Jubilee Line extension to the London Underground network, the Heathrow Express and London to Dover fast rail links, to innumerable smaller road, rail, port and airport, energy, hospital and school projects. In 2015 EIB financing committed to the UK amounted to nearly €8bn, including more than €400m for the expansion of Aberdeen and Liverpool ports, €700m for social housing in Northern Ireland and in London, more than €525m for the Caithness Coast wind farm, and €260m to Swansea and Oxford universities for research and improved teaching facilities. The bank has been particularly active in the environmental field. In the early days of privatisation the UK water industry secured from the EIB most of the external finance to bring Britain’s rivers, beaches and water supplies up to the best European standards.
这些项目既包括巨大工程，如欧洲投资银行领投的英法海底隧道(Channel Tunnel)、塞文二桥(Second Severn Crossing)、伦敦地铁网络的银禧线(Jubilee Line)延伸项目、希思罗机场快线(Heathrow Express)、伦敦-多佛快速铁路，也包括无数小型公路、铁路、港口、机场、能源、医院及学校项目。2015年，欧洲投资银行向英国提供的资金共计近80亿欧元，包括为阿伯丁港、利物浦港扩建提供逾4亿欧元，为北爱尔兰和伦敦的社会福利住房提供7亿欧元，为凯思尼斯郡(Caithness)海岸风电场提供逾5.25亿欧元，为斯旺西大学(Swansea University)、牛津大学(Oxford University)的科研及教学设施改善提供2.6亿欧元。该行在为环境领域提供贷款方面尤为活跃。在私有化早期，英国水务行业从欧洲投资银行获得大部分外部融资，用于将英国的河流、海滩及供水都达到欧洲最高标准。广州英语翻译公司。
British staff have played a significant part in the bank’s development. The UK has supplied one president and several vice-presidents. Following a UK departure from the EU the presence of British staff, and the influence they bring, will presumably be phased out and Britain will no longer be represented on the bank’s governing bodies.
英国工作人员在该行的发展过程中发挥了重要作用。欧洲投资银行的一名行长及多名副行长曾来自英国。随着英国退出欧盟，该行的英籍员工以及他们带来的影响力想必将逐渐消失，而英国在该行的理事机构中将不再拥有席位。
More importantly, as a non-EU member, the UK will no longer be eligible for EIB lending unless the bank’s board of governors (the finance ministers) unanimously authorise this. Even if they do, the UK cannot expect to maintain a preferential place in the EIB’s investment plans and the volume of the bank’s lending in Britain will diminish. Nor will London and British banks necessarily continue to play the dominant role in EIB bond issues.
更重要的是，作为非欧盟国家，英国将不再有资格获得欧洲投资银行贷款，除非该行理事会（由各成员国财长组成）一致给予授权。即便他们给予授权，英国也无法指望在该行的投资计划中继续享有优先地位，该行对英国的贷款总量也会逐渐减少。而伦敦以及英资银行也无法继续在欧洲投资银行债券发行上发挥主导作用。广州英语翻译公司。
At a time when Britain needs to retain the confidence of external investors to stimulate economic development, especially in infrastructure, and to finance its alarming current account deficit, it seems an extraordinary case of shooting oneself in the foot to deprive oneself of this crucial source of investment finance. There is no alternative multilateral institution with the EIB’s lending capacity and expertise in infrastructure investment, and proposals to establish a UK equivalent have come to nothing.
在英国需要维持外部投资者的信心以刺激经济发展（尤其是基础设施领域）并为其惊人的经常账户赤字提供资金之际，退欧看起来像一起搬起石头砸自己脚的非常事件——使英国失去了欧洲投资银行这个至关重要的投融资来源。在基础设施投资领域，没有其他多边机构拥有欧洲投资银行这样的贷款能力和专长，而且由英国牵头建立一家类似机构的提议已不了了之。
The writer was president of the European Investment Bank, 1993-2000
本文作者是欧洲投资银行前行长(1993-2000)
