In July 2025 America and the European Union agreed on a lopsided(不平衡的) trade deal, signed at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland. By September officialdom(官僚机构，官员总称) in Washington had completed the necessary paperwork. Getting it through the EU system in Brussels has proved more complicated. There were two legislative proposals from the European Commission, a report from the European Parliament, then some haggling(讨价还价，争论) between the bloc’s 27 member states on how they should jointly negotiate with MEPs. Meetings ensued(随后发生), press releases were issued. By May, some ten months later, a grand jamboree of negotiations between various bits of the EU known inelegantly as a “trilogue” had tentatively signed off on the deal. The parliament then decamped(离开，转移) to its second home in Strasbourg (best not ask why) to vote on it. All that now remains is a few more ministerial signatures, then some more press releases, then translation of the whole thing into the EU’s 24 official languages. Everyone involved seems delighted it has taken “only” a year or so to get the whole thing over the line(完成整个过程).
2025年7月，美国与欧盟在苏格兰特朗普的坦伯利高尔夫球场签署了一项不平衡的贸易协议。到9月，华盛顿的官僚机构已完成了必要的文书工作。然而，要让该协议通过布鲁塞尔的欧盟体系却更为复杂。先是欧盟委员会的两项立法提案，欧洲议会的一份报告，然后是27个成员国之间就如何共同与欧洲议会议员进行谈判展开讨价还价。随后召开会议，发布新闻稿。到了五月份，大约十个月后，一场由欧盟各机构参与、被尴尬称为“三方会谈”的盛大谈判会议初步批准了该协议。议会随后前往其位于斯特拉斯堡的第二总部（最好别问为什么）进行投票。现在剩下的只是几位部长的签名，然后是一些新闻发布会，接着将整个协议翻译成欧盟的24种官方语言。所有参与者似乎都欣喜若狂，因为整个流程“只”花了一年左右就完成了。
Living the slow life is part of Europe’s charm. Those long lunches and interminable(无休止的) summer holidays are as integral to the place as cathedrals and grumpy waiters. Alas, the idea of la dolce vita(① 背景：该短语由意大利导演费德里科·费...) carries through to(贯穿到，延续到) policymaking. In the case of the trade deal, forcing Mr Trump to twiddle his thumbs(干等，无所事事)—he huffily(气呼呼地，愠怒地) threatened to scrap(取消，废弃) it if the EU didn’t get a move on(赶紧，快点)—may have been a feature, not a bug. But other European initiatives are into their second decade of gestation(酝酿期，孕育期) for no such good reason. Deliberation is a virtue. Europe often seems to be engaged in obstinate(固执的，倔强的) self-obstruction(自我妨碍).
慢生活是欧洲魅力的一部分。那些漫长的午餐和无尽的暑假，就像大教堂和脾气暴躁的服务员一样，是这个地方不可或缺的部分。唉，“甜蜜生活”的观念也渗透到了政策制定中。就贸易协议而言，迫使特朗普先生干等——他气呼呼地威胁说，如果欧盟不加快行动，就取消协议——可能是一个特点，而不是一个缺陷。但其他欧洲倡议已进入第二个十年的酝酿期，却没有如此充分的理由。深思熟虑是一种美德。欧洲似乎常常执拗地自我设阻。
The EU does not so much kick policy proposals down the road(拖延政策提案) as place them in bureaucratic black holes. What comes out—and when—is a matter of happenstance(偶然事件). A recently passed revision of air-passenger rights required 13 years of legislative contemplation(深思，仔细考虑). The idea of a “capital-markets union”, to make citizens’ savings flow more easily to European businesses, seems barely closer to reality today than when it was first proposed in 2015. More humdrum(平凡的，单调的) initiatives can drag on(拖延，缓慢进行) for decades. A scheme for companies to register at EU level rather than in each country was first presented in 1988. A fresh push to get it done was unveiled(公布，揭幕) in Davos(① 背景：达沃斯是瑞士阿尔卑斯山小镇，自...) by the president of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in January 2025. And again, identically, in January 2026. Even if all goes well in the inevitable trilogues to come, it will be another two years before it comes into force.(即使未来不可避免的三方会谈一切顺利，它还需要两年才能生效。) Some continents have drifted faster.(有些大陆漂移得比这更快。)
欧盟并非将政策提案踢到路边，而是将其投入 bureaucratic的黑洞。出来什么——以及何时出来——纯属偶然。最近通过的航空乘客权利修订案经历了13年的立法酝酿。旨在让公民储蓄更顺畅地流向欧洲企业的“资本市场联盟”概念，如今似乎与2015年首次提出时相比，并未更接近现实。更普通的倡议可能拖延数十年。一项让公司在欧盟层面而非每个国家注册的方案早在1988年就提出。2025年1月，欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩在达沃斯公布了推动该方案的新努力。然后在2026年1月，又同样地再次提出。即使未来不可避免的三方会谈一切顺利，它还需要两年才能生效。有些大陆漂移得都比这快。
Summer is coming
夏天来了