International terrorists, money launderers and German car buyers will have to rethink their currency options after the European Central Bank moved to make the 500 bill a thing of the past.

在欧洲央行(ECB)采取行动让500欧元面值的钞票成为历史后，国际恐怖分子、洗钱者以及德国的汽车买家将不得不重新考虑其货币选择。

While many Europeans have never set eyes on the purple notes — and few shops accept them — they have featured prominently in EU discussions about how to choke off terrorist financing, a key concern since the Paris attacks.

尽管很多欧洲人从未看到过这种紫色钞票（而且几乎没有商店接受这种钞票），但它们却在欧盟(EU)有关如何遏制恐怖主义融资的讨论中占据了突出位置。自巴黎恐袭以来，恐怖主义融资一直是人们关心的一个重要问题。

Rob Wainwright, director of European police agency Europol, has called high-denomination notes the “currency of choice” for criminal and terrorist networks, while policymakers complain that many of the bills reside not in the eurozone, but in Russia.

欧洲刑警组织(Europol)负责人罗布温赖特(Rob Wainwright)将大额钞票称为犯罪和恐怖主义网络的“首选货币”，而政策制定者抱怨称，很多大额钞票并不在欧元区内，而是在俄罗斯。

Speaking to European Parliament lawmakers in Brussels yesterday, Mario Draghi, ECB governor, gave his clearest indication yet that the note was on borrowed time, saying there was an “increasing conviction” that such notes were used for criminal purposes.

欧洲央行(ECB)行长马里奥德拉吉(Mario Draghi)昨日在布鲁塞尔向欧洲议会(European Parliament)议员发表讲话时，给出了迄今最为明确的暗示，示意这种钞票已时日无多。他说，人们“日益确信”这种钞票被用于犯罪用途。

Asked last week, Michel Sapin, France’s finance minister, said the 500 bill was “used more to conceal activities than to buy things, more used to facilitate dishonest activities than by people like you and me to get a bite to eat”.

上周，法国财政部长米歇尔萨潘(Michel Sapin)在被问到此事时表示，500欧元面值钞票“更多地是被用来掩盖一些活动、而不是购物，更多地是被用来为不诚实活动提供便利、而不是被像你我这样的人用来吃吃喝喝”。

Finance ministers last week called for a review of the notes but the decision on the 500 bill rests with the ECB. Although Mr Draghi stopped short of announcing an end to the note, an informal decision has been made to withdraw the bill, according to people briefed on the matter.

欧洲各国财长上周呼吁重新评估这种钞票，但有关500欧元面值钞票命运的决定将由欧洲央行作出。知情人士称，尽管德拉吉没有宣布取消这种钞票，但已作出了让这种钞票退出流通的非正式决定。

Taking the note out of circulation would be unpopular in Germany, which has a tradition of using high-value notes for big purchases.

这一决定将不会受到德国的欢迎，该国有使用大额钞票购买大件商品的传统。

According to a study published by Europol last year, shops often refuse to accept 500 bills. But they still account for one-third of the value of all euro bank notes in circulation.

根据欧洲刑警组织去年发表的一份研究报告，商店通常会拒收500欧元面值钞票。但这些钞票仍占所有流通欧元钞票价值的三分之一。

It highlighted the case of Luxembourg, which issued bills totalling 87.5bn in 2013, about twice its GDP, with a “significant proportion” in high denominations, although it is one of the most “cash averse” countries in the eurozone.

报告强调了卢森堡的例子，2013年，该国发行了总额875亿欧元的钞票，是该国国内生产总值(GDP)的2倍左右，其中大额钞票的“比例很高”，尽管卢森堡是欧元区最“不喜欢现金”的国家之一。

Complicating matters, Bild, Germany’s highest circulation newspaper, launched a “hands off our cash” campaign aimed at Wolfgang Sch , the finance minister, to protest at plans to limit maximum cash payments.

令情况变得更为复杂的是，德国发行量最大的报纸《图片报》(Bild)发起了一项名为“别碰我们的现金”的活动，矛头直指德国财长沃尔夫冈朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Sch )，以抗议为现金支付额设置上限的计划。