The political crisis – which originated with the calculation of national budget surcharges and rebates from the EU budget – stems from an institutional arbitrariness that seems unjust and fosters immense resentment. Like friendships or marriages that break down over seemingly trivial issues that in fact signify fundamental problems, this budget crisis has highlighted a serious flaw in the UK-EU relationship.
这张账单源于欧盟统计局（Eurostat）对英国过去20年经济表现的重新统计结果。但是，其长期代价也许比其相对较小的数字（相当于GDP的0.1%）大得多。政治危机——源自欧盟预算对国家预算附加费和退税的计算——来自于制度任性（institutional arbitrariness），这种任性是不公平的，并且产生了极大的不满。就像是看似因为琐事而破裂的友谊和婚姻，其背后其实存在根本性问题，这场预算危机彰显出英国-欧盟关系中的严重缺陷。