Europe wants bigger firms. Its apparatchiks(（贬义）官僚，党羽) say so every time they talk about integration and competitiveness. “The leaders want true European champions(欧洲冠军（指大型欧洲企业）),” announced António Costa, the Portuguese head of the European Council, in February. “We limited consolidation, constrained risk and postponed cross-border investments,” complained Mario Draghi, an Italian banker who wrote a door-stopper of a report on the topic, in a speech in May.(“我们限制了整合、约束了风险、推迟了跨境投资，”意大利银行家马里奥·德拉吉在5月的一次演讲中抱怨道，他就此话题撰写了一份厚重的报告。)
欧洲希望拥有更大的企业。其官僚每次谈论一体化和竞争力时都会这么说。“领导人想要真正的欧洲冠军，”欧洲理事会葡萄牙籍主席安东尼奥·科斯塔在2月宣布。“我们限制了整合、约束了风险、推迟了跨境投资，”意大利银行家马里奥·德拉吉在5月的一次演讲中抱怨道，他就此话题撰写了一份厚重的报告。
Ideally these “champions” would be born loyal to the European project: golden geese(金鹅（比喻源源不断的财富来源）) reared under Brussels’ proposed “EU Inc(欧盟公司（拟议中的公司注册规则）)” incorporation rules. In practice they must be forged(锻造，形成) by mergers. Big pan-European deals require big pan-European dealmakers. Can the continent produce such figures? Can it stand(容忍，忍受) them? Consider the recent fortunes of the three busiest: Andrea Orcel, an Italian investment banker, Xavier Niel, a French telecoms entrepreneur, and Daniel Kretinsky, a Czech corporate raider(企业掠夺者（通过恶意收购牟利的人）). Call them the committee to buy Europe.
理想情况下，这些“冠军”应该生来就忠于欧洲事业：就像在布鲁塞尔提议的“欧盟公司”注册规则下养育的金鹅。实际上，它们必须通过并购锻造而成。大型泛欧交易需要大型泛欧交易撮合者。欧洲大陆能培养出这样的人物吗？它能容忍他们吗？考虑一下最活跃的三位的近况：意大利投资银行家安德烈亚·奥尔切利、法国电信企业家泽维尔·尼尔和捷克企业掠夺者丹尼尔·克雷廷斯基。就叫他们“收购欧洲委员会”吧。
Mr Orcel is the boss of UniCredit, Italy’s most outward-looking(外向型的，注重对外的) bank and its second-largest by assets. He made his name as a hard-charging(强硬的，进取心强的) adviser on big bank tie-ups in the 2000s. Now he is slowly consummating(完成，使圆满) one of his own. In September 2024, when Mr Draghi’s report was released, UniCredit disclosed its initial stake in Commerzbank, a German lender. Since then Mr Orcel has been portrayed(被描绘成，被刻画为) as an invader—by the top brass(高层，高级官员) at Commerzbank (“not good form”); by two successive German chancellors (UniCredit is “destroying” trust, Friedrich Merz(弗里德里希·默茨，德国前总理) said in May); and by the German bankers’ union (“the potential for chaos is growing”).
奥尔切利先生是联合信贷银行的老板，该行是意大利最具外向性的银行，按资产计是第二大银行。他本人在21世纪初作为大银行合并中的强硬顾问而声名鹊起。现在，他正在慢慢推进自己的一个并购计划。2024年9月，当德拉吉报告发布时，联合信贷披露了它在德国银行德国商业银行的初始持股。自那以后，奥尔切利一直被描绘成入侵者——德国商业银行的高层（“不合规矩”）；连续两任德国总理（联合信贷正在“摧毁”信任，弗里德里希·默茨在5月表示）；以及德国银行工会（“混乱的可能性正在增加”）。
Shared competence
共同权限