It would be counterproductive to deviate from the Community method and develop less democratic and less transparent procedures. These would end up by aggravating the present dispersal of effort.

Notes:

to concur (concurred, concurring) – 1. to agree with someone or have the same opinion as them: The judge stated that he concurred with the ruling. 2. to happen at the same time; to coincide: Everything concurred to produce the desired effect.

to accrue from something – to increase over a period of time: economic benefits accruing to the country from tourism; Interest will accrue if you keep your money in the savings account.

supranational – concerning more than one country, going beyond national powers, interests, borders, etc.: a supranational organization;

to bolster sb/sth (up) – to improve sth or make it stronger: to bolster sb’s confidence/ morale/courage; Falling interest rates may help to bolster up the economy.

to step up – (to increase) повышать усиливать;

dispersal (AmE written language) – the process of sending sb/sth in different directions; the process of spreading sth over a wide area: police trained in crowd dispersal; the dispersal of seeds; рассредоточение; рассеивание; разгон.

Active Vocabulary:

boost – 1. поддержка, проталкивание; стимул, стимулирование 2. создание популярности; реклама, рекламирование 3. экономика повышение (цен и т.п.)

4. Рост товарооборота

constitution – 1. конституция; основной закон; 2. устав;

provisions of the Constitution – положения конституции;

to adopt/to approve a constitution – принять конституцию;

draft constitution – проект конституции;

constitutional – конституционный;

competitiveness – конкурентоспособность; конкурентные позиции;

coherence – связность, последовательность(договоров, аргументации и т.п.); 2. внутренняя устойчивость (экономики); 3. логическая стройность, внутренняя увязка (плана);

coherent – логически последовательный;

coherent argument – логический/последовательный довод;

coherent foreign policy – последовательная внешняя политика;

coherent reasoning – логически последовательное доказательство/обоснование;

coherent thought – последовательная/связная мысль;

continuity – 1. непрерывность, неразрывность, целостность 2. преемственность; последовательность;

competence – 1. умение, способность; 2. а) юр. компетенция, правомочность; правоспособность в) круг ведения, компетенция;

coexistence – сосуществование;

dimension – 1. pl размеры, величина; размах; важность; 2. аспект, измерение;

humanitarian dimensions – гуманитарные аспекты;

political dimensions – политические аспекты;

instrument – 1. орудие, средство (для достижения цели); 2. документ; акт; грамота 3. инструмент, прибор;

the principle instrument of foreign policy – главное оружие во внешней политике;

compilation of international instruments – сборник международных договоров;

under a legal instrument – согласно документу;

international instruments establishing zones free from nuclear weapons – международные соглашения, учреждающие зоны, свободные от ядерного оружия;

instruments for declaring invalid, terminating, withdrawing from or suspending the operation of a treaty – документы обо объявлении договора недействительным, о прекращении договора, о выходе из него или приостановлении его действия

body of the instrument – юр. текст документа;

revocation of instruments – отзыв документов.

Exercise 1. Give English equivalents:

придавать ускорение интеграционным процессам; быть открытым для новых членов; проект, начатый полвека назад, приносит свои плоды; рассматривать задачи, требующие срочного решения; принимать на себя долю ответственности; защищать европейскую модель социального развития; обеспечивать безопасность и мирное сотрудничество в Европе; повышать конкурентоспособность товаров, производимых в Европе; упрощать существующее законодательство; защищать основные права граждан; заложить основы межнациональной демократии; защищать основные права граждан; являться важным фактором в социальной интеграции; способствовать уменьшению разногласий; обеспечить более стабильную систему функционирования учреждений Евросоюза; обеспечить прозрачность в выполнении принятых решений; главное оружие во внешней политике; документы об объявлении договора недействительным, о прекращении договора, о выходе из него или приостановлении его действия; отзыв документов; последовательная внешняя политика; положения конституции; проект конституции; логически последовательный; гуманитарные аспекты.

Exercise 2. You came across in the text an idiom to bear fruit and now learn some more idioms with the word fruit , translate what follows:

to bear fruit – if someone does bears fruit, it produces successful results;

forbidden fruit – something you want very much but are not allowed to have;

the fruit of your loins – (humorous) your children;

the bitter fruits – (literary) the unpleasant results of something.

1. The work he began did not bear fruit until after his death. 2. The fruit of my loins you may be, but that doesn't mean I have to look after you all my life! 3. Disease and malnutrition are the bitter fruits of an inefficient social healthcare policy. 4. His father successfully prevented Galileo from even knowing that there was such a subject as mathematics until at the age of nineteen he happened, as an eavesdropper* to overhear a lecture on geometry. He seized with avidity upon the subject, which has for him all the charm of forbidden fruit (B. Russell).

eavesdropper* – a person who likes listening to private a private conversation;

to eavesdrop – подслушивать.

Exercise 3. Find Russian equivalents of the actual sayings from the Bible. Comment on them, be argumentative:

A good tree cannot bring forth* evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree.

to bring forth* (phrasal verb) – (formal) to cause something to appear; produce, yield: Our second meeting brought forth very few new ideas.

Exercise 4. Match the columns of phrasal verbs to its meanings, find them into the text. Fill in the gaps then translate what follows:

1. to delve into;

2. to cope with;

3. to step up;

4. to lay down;

5. to carry out;

6. to break down;

7. to take up;

1. to discuss, or deal with something;

2. to divide information or a piece of work into smaller parts so that it is easier to understand or deal with;

3. to do or complete something especially something important;

4. to officially establish a rule, or to officially state the way in which something must be done;

5. to do more of an activity or to increase the speed of a process, usually in order to improve a situation;

6. to deal effectively with sb/sth, to manage sb/sth adequately;

7. to examine something carefully in order to discover more information about someone or something.

Gap filling exercise (two sentences to each meaning):

1. A leading law firm ... his case. I can't give an answer, you'll have ... the matter with your supervisor.

2. We can ... the project into section for different teams to work on. We must ... the results of the survey by age and gender.

3. A survey of ten schools in the area will be ... out next year. If this difficult phase of highways planning is to be ... efficiently, the engineer has to have all the help that modern methods of survey can supply.

4. The military authorities have ... strict rules which must be followed. New guidelines about dealing with patients have been ... for doctors and nurses.

5. Security at the airport has been ... since the bomb scare. The police have ... their efforts to try to recover the stolen items.

6. Our collection had reached such proportions that it took us all time to ... it. He hired a nurse to ... the new baby and the chores.

7. I don't like ... too deeply into his past. It must be terrible to have journalists ... into your private life all the time.

Exercise 5. Look at the following word combinations and phrases from the text and see if you remember which prepositions were used in the text:

1. Tanks ... enlargement. 2. Lack ... democracy 3. By virtue ... references ... principles. 4. The power consonant ... their democratic legitimacy. 5. The power to decide ... revenue and ... expenditure. 6. I fully agree ... that aim. 7. To make the EU more visible ... public eye. 8. The EU must have focus ... responsibility and accountability. 9. An EU president chosen ... governments and voted ... by Parliament. 10. Dispersal of effort must also be avoided as it leads ... powerlessness. 11. All these reforms must be geared ... better allocation of roles and tasks. 12. The European club is open ... new members.

Exercise 6. Match the columns of English/Russian equivalents with the word continuity and make up sentences of your own with the following word combinations:

continuity

1. continuity in the policy;

2. continuity in relations;

3. to be marked by continuity;

4. to pursue foreign policy with continuity;

5. to secure continuity;

6. to stand for the continuity of foreign policy;

7. de facto continuity;

8. continuity of bilateral treaties;

9. continuity of the link;

1. бесперебойность действия линии связи;

2. преемственность двусторонних договоров;

3. преемственность де-факто;

4. стоять за преемственность во внешней политике;

5. обеспечивать преемственность;

6. сохранить преемственность в проведении внешней политики;

7. характеризоваться преемственностью;

8. преемственность в отношениях;

9. преемственность в политике.

Exercise 7. Give Russian equivalents of the following:

competence, competent

to be beyond competence, to fall under competence, within one's competence, competence to conclude treaties, to challenge the competence, to define the competence of the committee, to recognize the competence of a state, the competence is vested in somebody, to be competent to do something, to declare oneself to be competent, competent authority, competent majority

coexistence

competitive coexistence, peaceful coexistence, coexistence of different socioeconomic systems, to aim at coexistence, to promote coexistence, to strive towards coexistence, to work towards coexistence, friendly coexistence

boost

to give somebody a boost, to give a boost to home demand, steady boosts in military spending, to get a good boost, price boost, boost in pay , to give the economy a welcome boost, to give somebody's confidence a boost

Exercise 8. Expand on the topics using the connecting and sequencing words and phrases mentioned below and keeping close to the text :

Firstly To sum up Notably On the whole

That’s why In that case Actually Anyway

In the same way Instead In addition Lastly

In other words For instance Clearly Yet

1. The historical significance of the proposals made by Romano Prodi President of the European Commission for the EU.

2. Four challenges.

3. The project for the EU.

4. EU citizenship.

5. Proposals in the Commission Communication to the Convention

6. The interaction of the Presidents of the Council and of the Commission.

Exercise 9. Translate and then summarize the text (The Economist, 2004) using the vocabulary listed below:

overlapping (treaties) – частично совпадающий, дублирующий; перекрывающий;

the primacy (of EU law) – первенство, главенство; примат;

to dispatch – отправлять, посылать;

oblivion [o'blivion] – забвение; to fall, to sink into oblivion – быть забытым (or преданным забвению);

to streamline (procedure) – 1. Модернизировать; 2. упрощать;

to confer [kqn'f(r)] (competences /powers) – предоставлять, наделять, даровать, жаловать4

to loose one’s grip – терять силу; he is loosing his grip хватка у него уже не та4

to shift (powers) – переложить полномочия, компетенции;

arcane [a'keIn] – таинственный, скрытный, тайный.

At present, the EU is governed by two sets of overlapping treaties, providing for ‘three pillars’, several different ways of producing laws and a voting system that lacks a rational basis (Germany, with almost twice Spain’s population, has just 7% more votes). There is no clear statement of what the EU is or what it does. Some absolutely fundamental principles, from the primacy of EU law to its exclusive competence over marine conservation , are not mentioned in the treaties. Now, set out in part 1 of the constitution, is what the EU has needed for years: clarity and coherence about where its powers come from, and how decisions are made. And, at just 59 short articles, this part, which sets the framework for the Union, could easily fit into anyone’s pocket.

The constitution dispatches into oblivion any notion that the EU is a federal superstate. It is the member states that confer competences (powers) on the Union “to attain objectives they [i.e., the member states] have in common” (article). “Conferral”, meaning that the EU’ s powers derive from member states, is a fundamental principle, requiring the EU to act “within the limits of the competences conferred upon it by the member states”. Competences not so conferred remain national. And there is even a streamlined procedure, for the first time, for any member state to withdraw from the EU-proof, if more were needed, that this is an organisation of freely co-operating nations.

The EU’ s reputation has suffered in the past because the use and transfer of powers has appeared to be a one-way street. Now, there are innovations in the constitution that can make it two-way. Shared competences (or part of them) can be transferred back to member states (article11). And national parliaments are charged with the duty of ensuring compliance with the principle of subsidiary.

At present, there is no obligation on members states or the European Commission even to inform national parliaments about draft EU laws, still less to let them have any power. But under the new provisions all national parliaments must be notified independently of all draft laws, and given six weeks to respond. If a third of them object, the commission must “review” the draft. Yet, in theory, the commission could then re-submit the original proposals amended, but in practice they would be unlikely to do so, not least because, if a third of national parliaments are against a proposal, so will be their governments, and the commission would be close to losing the qualified majority needed to pass laws.

The constitution also shifts power back to member states, and so citizens, in another way: by reform of the presidency system. This sounds a bit arcane. But imagine any complex organisation where the leadership had to switch every six months, and it was only your turn once every twelve-and-a-half years. What would happen is that effective power would shift, automatically, to those with some permanence. And no imagination is needed: this is the EU today. Rotating the presidency made sense when the EU had six members. With 25, and soon to be more. It is now a recipe for member states to loose their grip. A key institutional reform creates a full-time post of president of the European Council (i.e., heads of government) to put into effect its decisions on the EU’ s strategic direction. This was a British proposal. Also, the size of the commission is to be reduced.

Exercise 10. Prepare a short presentation related the topic of this chapter and include examples of connecting and sequencing ideas. Use the phrases below:

Especially

In conclusion

Naturally

Then

To sum up

In fact

Finally

Secondly

First of all

As a matter of fact

Т ема III.

TRADE PERSPECTIVES OF THE EU WITH RUSSIA

As the European Union brings countries of Eastern and Central Europe into its fold over the next few years, its political clout in the region is expected to strengthen and its influence on Russian economic life is set to grow.

But although the political ramifications of EU extension are considered damaging for Russia, the economic consequences are far from being a black-and-white, win-or-lose situation.

The EU accounts for about 40 percent of total Russian exports, but this is expected to rise to 60 percent in coming years as the bloc expands to include former Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe.

EU membership will require Eastern and Central European countries to bring their economic and trade legislation in line with EU standards, which could mean new hurdles for Russian producers.

"The most important concern on the Russian side is highly justified, that of EU trade policy being applied to yet another eight or 10 countries, many of them important Russian trading partners," said Erik Berglof, director of the Stockholm Institute for Transition Economies. "The EU's choice of protectionist tools, in particular the use of antidumping measures, is also particularly damaging to Russia and has hit the country where it hurts the most."

While this will hurt some major Russian companies, like steel and machine manufacturers, some say its biggest effect will be on smaller scale producers.

EU candidate countries in Eastern and Central Europe account Europe account for about 20 percent of Russian Exports. According to ING Bank Eurasia, raw materials account for 75 percent of that total. Oil and gas make up 50 percent, according to the bank.

"We do not expect a substantial impact in the short run resulting from trade with the new EU members," said ING Bank Eurasia general director Hendrik Ten Bosch.

That was the case with Finland, currently the only EU member bordering Russia. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Russian export volumes have remained constant since then. Oil, gas make up the lion's share of exports to Finland.

The EU' s interest in little more than Russian energy resources, which would only intensify with the additional states, adversely affects the development of the Russian economy, some say.

Many observers see benefits for Russia from EU expansion. Some say EU extension could theoretically even help Russian exporters of European-standard goods.

"EU tariff barriers are lower on average than existing barriers in Eastern Europe," said Christopher Granville, chief strategist at United Financial Group. "Thus technically, Russian companies could have a larger export capability, but in real life things are a lot more complicated and regulations could change. The overall effect of EU expansion will be minimal."

But although EU tariffs are lower than current European tariffs, Russian goods may still lose their competitiveness in both these regions after EU expansion. Current tariffs between the EU and Eastern Europe will disappear with EU expansion, making each regions' goods more competitive relative to Russian goods within the expanded EU market.

EU regulations may single out goods entering Eastern Europe, but they can't single out investors. And in Eastern Europe, where Russia-phobia has shown itself at tenders for major state property, Russian investors should see a more level playing field.

Hugo Erikkson, head of public relations at oil major Yukos, said some of these countries have been reluctant to welcome Russian investments. "Under EU regulations, these countries can't discriminate," he said. "They have to treat all investors as equals and that gives Russian companies new opportunities."

Expansion gives Russian companies with assets in Eastern Europe access to the entire European market, analysts say. Some say this could pull Russian investors into Eastern Europe.

Analysts are quick to point out that the chances Russian companies will be able to take advantage of such opportunities right away are minimal. Competition in the EU market is already fierce, they say.

However, expansion could have positive consequences for Russian companies beyond dollar figures and market share.

Eastern European politicians and economists will be able to bring their knowledge of Russia to the decision-makers at the EU headquarters in Brussels, some analysts say. Russia will also slowly become integrated into the EU culturally as it plows more investment into the EU member states in Eastern Europe. Russian companies operating there will have to adopt EU business standards and ethics.

But that is a double-edged sword for Russia. EU regulations demand greater transparency in financial transactions than currently exist in Eastern European countries, and that may scare off some Russian companies.

Moscow has expressed fears that EU expansion may erode trade with Eastern Europe, but observers sat that breakdown has for the most part already taken place. EU expansion could only enhance those former Soviet trade contacts by strengthening Eastern European economies, they say.

Economists expect Western European nations to pour money into Eastern Europe after expansion to take advantage of the cheaper labor force. That should lead to stronger economic growth in the region, including parts of Russia.

"Russia will gain from any increased economic well-being in Eastern Europe following enlargement, both in terms of increased demand for Russian products and appreciation of Russian assets in these countries," said SITE' s Berglof.

Those Eastern European countries that looked westward following the fall of the Soviet Union may look eastward after EU expansion. And that could pull the EU and Russia closer together.

"Eastern European consumer goods producers will have to fight with Western European producers on the EU market and their chances of success are not very good. The long-term tendency will be for Eastern European countries to export more and more to Russia, and this will strengthen EU-Russia relations."

Notes:

to account for (phrasal verb) – to compose to constitute: The elderly account for an increasing proportion of the population.

clout (U) – influence, especially political: Its massive export earnings give the company a lot of clout with the government.

ramification – 1. (usually plural) a branch of a system that has many parts; part of a network: ramifications of a business of a railway system 2. Any of a large number of results that follow from an action or decision: What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union?

the Stockholm Institute for Transition Economies (SITE) – Стокгольмский институт экономики переходного периода

hurdle – a difficulty to be overcome, an obstacle: political and economic hurdles standing in the way of progress

to pull something together (phrasal verb) – to improve something by organizing it more effectively: We need an experienced manager to pull the department together.

Active Vocabulary:

to affect – воздействовать на что-либо, влиять, затрагивать (интересы)

to affect the atmosphere – повлиять на атмосферу/обстановку

to affect public opinion – оказать влияние на общественное мнение

to affect privileges/immunities – затрагивать привилегии/иммунитеты

to affect somebody' s interests – затрагивать чьи-либо интересы

to affect a resolution – оказывать влияние на принятие резолюции

to affect the situation – оказать влияние/воздействие на обстановку

to apply – 1. обращаться с просьбой, просить, подавать заявление 2. применять, использовать 3. применяться, быть применимым, касаться, относиться

to bring something in line with something – приводить что-либо в соответствие с чем-либо

clout – ударная или пробивная сила; большое влияние (особенно политическое); власть

to exercise diplomatic clout – осуществлять дипломатический нажим

the President's clout on Capitol Hill tends to sag – влияние президента на конгресс, вероятно, ослабнет

to enhance – повышать, увеличивать, усиливать, углублять

to enhance international peace – укреплять мир между всеми государствами

to enhance security/stability – укреплять безопасность/стабильность

to enhance deterrence – повысить эффективность сдерживающих/устрашающих средств

to enhance the operational reliability of the station – повышать эксплуатационную надежность станции