《参考消息》2006年4月7日第4版：欧洲艰难打赢经济自由战争
《金融时报》3月31日文章：欧洲正在打赢经济自由战争
Europe is winning the war for economic freedoms
By Dan O'Brien
Published: March 31 2006 03:00 | Last updated: March 31 2006 03:00
(1)Economic freedoms, no less than other liberties, are eternally vulnerable, and never more so than when governments are weak or prone to populism. The "four freedoms" ★underpinning[1] the European integration project - the free movement of goods, services, labour and capital - are no different.
In the ★aftermath[2] of the rejection of the European Union constitution in referendums in France and the Netherlands in mid-2005, the Union's single market appeared to be at risk if member states interpreted the votes as a rejection of liberalisation. The failure of many member governments to implement reforms and recent efforts by three governments to prevent foreign takeovers （2）have added to concerns that the half-century of (unsteady) progress towards European market integration is going into reverse.
The evidence does not support such a conclusion. Consider first the free movement of capital. Only a handful of cross-border deals have attracted unwanted government attention in recent times, while thousands have not. In 2005, almost 5,000 EU businesses were acquired by non-national firms. This represented a two-thirds increase on 2003 and includes sectors, such as energy, which have until recently seen limited pan-European corporate consolidation. Further restructuring will be facilitated, to some extent at least, when a new takeover ★directive[3] comes into force in May.
This reflects the balance of forces between ★vestigial[4] interventionism and market liberalisation. The European Commission, though a shadow of its former self in its influence over policy formulation, has seen its regulatory power strengthen and （3）has never been more ready to stand up to member states that break or bend the rules. （4）More member governments are opposed in principle to interfering in corporate restructuring than those willing to resort to such action.
The forces of protectionism are also failing to prevent freer movement of goods and services. Imports to the EU continue to grow strongly. In 2005 they surged, （5）with 15 of the 25 member states registering a record high in imports as a percentage of gross domestic product.
The freedom to work in other member states was partially denied to citizens from the 10 new members when they joined in May 2004. This was the most ★egregious[5] case of protectionism in the EU is recent years. （6）But even here there are positive signs. The three member countries that allowed full access to workers from the newly joined 10 - Ireland, Sweden and the UK - show no sign of reversing their decision and three more countries - Finland, Portugal and Spain - have committed to extending the freedom to the newcomers this year.
The evidence shows that Europe continues to go in the right direction, however slow and hesitating that may be.
[EXERCISE]
翻译文中划线部分（注意译文要与上下文衔接通顺）：
《参考消息》对应译文——
NOTES:
[1]underpin
vt.支持;巩固to give strength or support to something and to help it succeed:
e.g. the theories that underpin his teaching method |America's wealth is underpinned by a global system which exploits the world's poor.
[2]aftermath
n.1. 后果,余波;事件结束后的一段时期[S1][(+of)]
Many people were homeless in the aftermath of the earthquake.
地震之后,许多人无家可归。
2. 再生草[C]
[3]directive
a.指导的;管理的;方向性的
n.指令
[4]vestigial
a.留有痕迹的;残余的;退化的
[5] egregious
a. 非常的;震惊的;极坏的