歐元與歐盟 Euro and EU
歐元和歐盟是兩個不同但是卻非常容易被搞混的用詞。參與歐盟的國家目前一共有二十七國，但其中只有十九國使用歐元。光是籌備歐元的使用就耗時十年，在一九九九年實施三年的隱形貨幣，讓成員國可以開始用歐元記帳、彙整金融系統，貨幣的正式啟用是在二零零二年。所有的歐盟成員國（除了丹麥）一但符合了一九九二年的馬斯垂克協議內的經濟律法考量之後，都必須使用歐元。使用歐元的國家總稱為歐元區。
Euro and European Union (EU) are two different but very easily mixed up terminologies. To date, there are 27 countries who have joined EU, with only 19 of them using euro. It took over a decade to prepare the usage of euro, which was launched in 1999 as an ‘invisible’ currency, so that member states could record transactions in euro and convert the financial systems in euro. Euro was made ‘visible’ in 2002 with coins and banknotes. All EU Member States, except Denmark, are required to adopt the euro and join the euro area, once they are ready to fulfil the binding economic and legal conditions as agreed in the Maastricht treaty in 1992. These EU member states which adopt euro constitute the Eurozone, officially called the euro area.
去荷蘭參加新升經理受訓時我被編制到的那個班裡有兩位講師，一位是米蘭來的人事部同仁，另一位是希臘來的簽證會計師。那年是二零一一年，正是希臘國債問題炒得火熱的當頭，還有德國不遺餘力地把錢砸進去來平衡稱之為歐元的天平。
I had two lecturers in the group I was assigned to during my new manager training course in Netherland; one was from the HR department from Milan, and another one was the partner from Greece. That was in year 2011, when Greek debt crisis was at the centre of all debates, and Germany dumped in more and more money to the bottomless euro equation.
在當下那種國際政治及金融都高度敏感的情況下，講師是希臘人，而課堂裡好一部分的的新升經理卻是德國人，同班的德國同事恐怕對於這位希臘簽證會計師不是太有信服感。
At the time, both international politics and macroeconomics were highly sensitive, when the lecturer was Greek and a few newly promoted managers were German, imaginably these German colleagues would find it hard to take in what the Greek lecturer had to say.
德國人在教改之前大學總是念得很久，很多剛出社會的德國人都快三十歲了，再怎麼進階要升上經理也至少要三十好幾了（德國是一定要考過當地會計師執照才能升遷，盧森堡的會計師事務所倒沒有這個規定）。而這位希臘的簽證會計師，居然在三十一歲就當上會計師，當講師的當時才三十六歲，要我是德國人我也會覺得這個會計師是不是升得莫名其妙。
Before the German education system was reformed, a lot of Germans would only get their first job at their late 20’s, after obtaining their university degrees. By the time they get promoted to a manager position, they’d have been in their 30’s. Also to be promoted to a manager in the big four audit firms in Germany, they need to first become a certified accountant; in Luxembourg such restriction was not imposed. This Greek partner became a partner when he was only 31, and was only 36 when he was the lecturer in our training course. If I were a German I’d also wonder how ‘qualified’ this partner truly was.
當希臘講師要求我們向他扮成的客戶做五分鐘的簡報時，德國代表多半言簡意駭，直搗核心。希臘講師在講評的時候說：通常我們去做簡報的時候呢，至少前面十五分鐘是寒暄。德國同事在台下就吐槽了：那就是為什麼你們賺不了錢的原因。我在旁邊看大戲的也不禁有點黑線上臉。
When Greek lecturer requested all of us to conduct a 5-minute presentation to him, as a client, most of the German colleagues had concise presentations with a straightforward communication style. Greek lecturer gave his feedback pointing out that when Greeks do presentations with clients, the first 15-minutes are all for pleasantries. German colleagues commented amongst themselves, ‘that was likely the reason why Greece can’t make profits in their businesses.’ I also felt the tension even just sitting on the sideline enjoying the show with popcorn.
後來回盧森堡和我南非協理講到德國與希臘張弓弩拔的情況，他說他看了一些新聞的專題報導，分析希臘人普遍而言很早就退休了，平均退休年齡是五十三歲。也就是說，當其他國家的人都還在提供勞動力的時候，希臘人已經到小島上曬太陽了。說這情況令人詬病嗎？比較其他歐盟國家這的確不太好看。但是如果想著德國人二十八、九歲才開始上班，希臘人二十二歲開始上班的話，希臘人也比德國人早提供了六、七年的勞動力。
After returning to Luxembourg I chatted to my South African senior manager about the episode I witnessed. He said he read some special news reports on Greek Debt Crisis, and the analysis pointed out that in general Greeks retire rather early, with an average retiring age at 53 years old. That means when all other European nationalities were still in the labour market, Greeks had already shifted their focus in working their tans on the islands. Was the scenario denounceable? Greeks’ average early retirement age relative to other Europeans’ average retirement age frankly does not appear fair. However if Germans only start working around their late 20s while Greeks start working at their early 20s, Greeks do contribute to labour market 6–7 years earlier than Germans.
歐元區的神奇和矛盾也從義大利朋友們和我的閒聊中可窺見一二。我和一對義大利朋友在二零零八年夏天的時候一起去了瑞典的斯德哥爾摩。瑞典是沒有使用歐元的歐盟國之一，所以我們抵達之後還得先換摳摳。朋友跟我說，十年前他父母來旅行的時候一直覺得北歐很貴，但是他現在降消費也不覺得北歐的生活消費特別貴，總覺得跟米蘭的物價不相上下。這是一個很有趣的現象，剛好歐元在二零零八年慶祝它十週年的紀念，所以我在【經濟學人】雜誌上讀到了歐元相關的報導。並不是每個加入使用歐元的國家都從使用歐元得到好處的。歐元強勢對進口有利，對出口卻是弊多於利。總之，義大利加入了使用歐元的行列之後，物價飆漲，可是經濟成長卻是零！所以北歐的物價雖高，但是和近幾年物價飆漲的義大利大城市比，可能也是相去無多。
The mystery and conflicts of eurozone can be spotted from the random chats I had with my Italian friends. I travelled with my friends, an Italian couple, to Stockholm in Sweden, in the summer of 2008. My friend told me that his parents travelled to Scandinavia a decade ago, and found it a very expensive region. However, he now came to travel in Stockholm, and did not find the cost of living more expensive than when he was living in Milan. This is an very interesting scenario. As 2008 was the 10-year anniversary of euro’s birth, The Economist wrote a special report on euro. Not all EU member states which adopts euro benefit from the currency, as a strong foreign currency exchange rate could be an advantage for importing but a disadvantage for exporting. In short, since Italy adopted euro as its currency, the cost of living had drastically inflated, but the economic growth had been minimal, if at all. Hence the once perceived as high cost of living in Scandinavian countries, was probably not far off from Italian major cities, after the inflation in cost of living in recent years.
講這麼多有什麼重點嗎？嗯，我所寫的任何東西裡面應該有任何重點嗎？
Is there any point to what I wrote? Well, are there meant to be any point in anything I wrote?
無三小路用通識之德國大學畢業平均年齡 Useless Common Sense of Average Graduating Age from Universities in Germany
無三小路用通識之原來咱去過歐元發史地 Useless Common Sense of So I’ve Been to Where Euro was Born
