European politicians and businessmen are expressing concern about the euro's strength.
欧洲政界和商界人士对眼下欧元的强劲走势表现出了深深的忧虑。
The euro-zone currency has reached the 'pain threshold,' and Europe's politicians should press the U.S., Japan and China to re-evaluate their own currencies at the coming meeting of the Group of Seven leading nations, a pan-European business lobbying group said. 泛欧商业游说团体BusinessEurope表示，欧元汇率现已达到“痛苦临界点”，欧洲的政治家应在即将到来的七大工业国会议上向美国、日本和中国施压，促其调整本币汇率。
'Having crossed 1.40 against the U.S. dollar and appreciating against the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen, the euro exchange rate has attained a pain threshold for European companies,' BusinessEurope President Ernest-Antoine Seilliere said in a letter dated Tuesday to Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup, a forum made up of finance ministers from the 13 countries that share the euro. 该团体总裁塞耶尔(Ernest-Antoine Seilliere)在周二致欧元集团(Eurogroup)主席让－克洛德•容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)的信中说，欧元已升至1.40美元以上，兑人民币和日圆汇率也在不断上升，对欧洲企业而言已达到了痛苦临界点。欧元集团是一个由欧元区 13国财政部长组成的论坛。
The G-7 meeting in Washington Oct. 20-21 'will be a unique opportunity to raise these issues forcefully and proclaim that the euro cannot be the variable of adjustment to reduce the U.S. external deficit,' Mr. Seilliere said. 塞耶尔说，定于10月20至21日在华盛顿召开的七大工业国会议将是提出这一问题的绝佳机会，欧洲应当在此次会议上发布强力宣言，明确指出欧元不能充当美国减少贸易逆差的变量调整工具。
The business lobby also decried what it called 'political interference' in the European Central Bank's monetary policy. 该团体还对被其称为“政治干预”的欧洲央行(European Central Bank)货币政策进行了谴责。
In recent months, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for the ECB to cut interest rates to help ease the upward pressure on the euro. Lower interest rates tend to weaken a currency because they reduce returns on investments denominated in that currency. 近几个月来，法国总统萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)一直在呼吁欧洲央行下调利率以缓解欧元承受的升值压力。由于下调利率会降低货币的投资回报率，因此往往能起到降低货币汇率的作用。
BusinessEurope said it expects the ECB 'to remain pragmatic as regards its interest rate policy.' The risk of 'further appreciation of the euro should naturally rank high on the ECB's list of concerns,' the group'slettersaid. BusinessEurope称，它预计欧洲央行在利率政策方面仍会采取务实态度。该团体在上述信件中称，欧元进一步升值的风险自然会成为欧洲央行重点关注的问题。
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi took a similar line yesterday in comments to foreign journalists during a presentation of the government's 2008 budget plans. 'Yes, I'm worried,' he said in response to a question about the currency's strength. 大利总理普罗迪(Romano Prodi)周三在介绍政府2008年预算方案时向外国记者们表达了类似的观点。他在回答记者有关欧元走强的问题时说：“是的，我感到担心。”
He said he had discussed the strength of the euro with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 'But I'm not going to give the European Central Bank advice,' Mr. Prodi added, in response to a question about whether the ECB focuses excessively on inflation policy at the expense of currency issues. 'I know the ECB must have its autonomy,' he said. 他说自己已经与德国总理默克尔(Angela Merkel)讨论过欧元走强问题。但在被问及欧洲央行是否因过分关注通货膨胀政策从而忽视了货币问题时，普罗迪又表示，他不会给欧洲央行提建议，他知道欧洲央行必须拥有自主权。
New calls to discuss the currency show that European heads of state and finance ministers, many of whom have said they can live with the strong euro, might be getting nervous. As the euro climbs, euro-zone products become relatively more expensive in foreign markets, prompting fears that European exports could falter. 最近要求讨论货币问题的呼声显示，欧洲国家的政府首脑和财政部长们可能对欧元升值感到紧张了。此前他们中的许多人一直表示欧元走强没什么值得大惊小怪的。由于欧元汇率的攀升，欧元区产品在海外市场上也显得更加昂贵，这不禁引发了人们对欧洲出口受损的担忧。
In late New York trading yesterday, the euro fetched $1.4092, down from $1.4154 late Tuesday. 纽约汇市周三尾盘欧元兑1.4092美元，与周二尾盘的1.4154美元相比稍有回落。
