英國退歐用法語談判？

An EU official familiar with Brussels’ Brexit task force made mischief last week by telling Reuters that negotiations over the UK’s departure would be in French.

一名熟悉布魯塞爾英國退歐特別小組的歐盟官員不久前挑起了是非：他向路透社(Reuters)表示，有關英國退歐的談判將以法語進行。

The story prompted the reaction the prankster was no doubt hoping for. Theresa May, UK prime minister, said: “We will conduct the negotiations in the way that is going to make sure that we get the right deal for the United Kingdom”, which the UK tabloid The Sun reported as “Theresa May slaps down Eurocrat’s barmy bid to make us negotiate EU exit in FRENCH”.

這件事引發(fā)的反應無疑正中這位惡作劇之人的下懷。英國首相特里薩•梅(Theresa May)稱：“我們將以確保英國得到合適協(xié)議的方式進行談判。”對此，英國小報《太陽報》(The Sun)報道稱，“特里薩•梅斷然拒絕了歐盟官員讓我們用法語進行退歐談判的瘋癲提議”。

Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, or, as his Twitter handle says, “chef de la négociation avec le Royaume-Uni”, tweeted, in English: “Never expressed myself on negotiation language. Work as often in English as French. Linguistic regime to be set at start — to be agreed between negotiators.”

歐盟負責英國退歐談判的專員(或者按他Twitter賬號的描述——“與英國談判首席代表”(chef de la négociation avec le Royaume-Uni))米歇爾•巴尼耶(Michel Barnier)用英語發(fā)表推文：“從來沒有在談判語言上發(fā)表過看法。工作中用英語和用法語一樣多。談判的語言會在開始時設定好——經(jīng)過談判雙方的同意。”

Of course it will. The EU could hardly force the British side to negotiate in French, even if they were up to it. Mrs May said a few French sentences when she expressed solidarity with France after the November 2015 terrorist attacks, but she did not give the impression her language skills would be up to debating who, for example, will pay UK Eurocrats’ pensions after Brexit.

當然是這樣。歐盟幾乎沒法迫使英方用法語談判，即使英方法語說得夠好。2015年11月在法國遭受恐怖襲擊后，梅在聲援法國時曾說過幾句法語，但是她的表現(xiàn)并未讓人覺得她的法語好到足以辯論各種問題——比如英國退歐后由誰來為英國籍歐盟官員支付養(yǎng)老金的問題。

I have heard Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, give a creditable radio interview in French but Mrs May is unlikely to let him near the negotiations. I asked the office of David Davis, secretary of state for exiting the EU, whether he spoke any foreign languages. I was promised a response but did not receive one, which I think we can take as a “non”. Mr Barnier’s English is fluent but, if he wants to negotiate in French, no one can stop him either. If the two sides insist on speaking their own languages, the EU employs interpreters.

我聽過英國外交大臣鮑里斯•約翰遜(Boris Johnson)用法語接受采訪，說得很不錯。但是梅不太可能讓他參與談判。我曾詢問負責退歐事務的國務大臣戴維•戴維斯(David Davis)的辦公室，戴維斯是否會說任何外語。對方承諾會回復我，但是始終沒有回復，我覺得我們可以理解為答案是“不會”。巴尼耶的英語很流利，但是，如果他想用法語談判，也沒人能阻止他。如果雙方都堅持說各自的語言，歐盟會安排翻譯。

But that does not mean this squall was meaningless. Because English is now the world’s most widely spoken second language, native speakers usually launch into English without a thought. In business, diplomacy and, often, in the street, they will usually receive an English reply.

但那并不意味著這場風波毫無意義。因為如今英語是全球使用最廣泛的第二語言，以其他語言為母語者往往會不假思索地使用英語。在商務和外交場合、以及街頭，他們通常會得到英語回復。

Indeed, with an estimated one in four speaking English worldwide, it has become hard to receive a response in any other language. When the diminishing group of native English speakers who speak other languages try them out, they often receive an English reply. When I wrote about this in 2014, native English speakers around the world emailed that they had had the same problem: whatever effort they put into learning other languages, everyone else wanted to practise their English.

的確，以全世界每四個人中估計便有一個人說英語的比例推算，人們已經(jīng)很難得到其他語言的回復了。會說其他語言的以英語為母語者(這樣的人越來越少)試著說其他語言時，對方往往會跟他們說英語。2014年，當我寫到這個現(xiàn)象時，世界各地以英語為母語的人都發(fā)來郵件，表示他們也遭遇了相同問題：無論他們多努力地學習其他語言，別人都想練習自己的英語。

Some readers suggested persisting in the other person’s language until they caved in and replied in it. This language jockeying is a bit of a game and, in my experience, no one plays it better than the French.

一些讀者建議堅持使用對方的語言，直到對方放棄說英語，開始用自己的語言回復。這種圍繞語言的博弈有點像個游戲，以我的經(jīng)驗來看，這個游戲沒人比法國人玩得更溜了。

Decades ago, anyone asking an English question in France risked a shrug and brush-off. Today, an attempt at French is more likely to receive an English response with an edge of “let’s shuffle through your shopworn language rather than trampling on our unsullied one”.

幾十年前，在法國用英語問問題，對方可能會聳聳肩、不理你。如今，試著用法語提問更可能得到英語回復，帶有一種“讓我們來糟蹋你們陳腐的語言，別來糟蹋我們純潔無暇的語言”的意味。

So what message was the “EU official” sending with the suggestion that the Brits negotiate in French? We can dismiss the obvious one that, with the UK gone, the French hope their language will replace English as the EU’s lingua franca. They know that is not going to happen. People have spent too much time learning English to switch.

那么“歐盟官員”暗示讓英國人用法語談判的用意何在?我們可以先排除最容易想到的答案，即：英國離開歐盟后，法國人希望法語將取代英語成為歐盟通用語言。他們知道這不可能。人們已經(jīng)投入了太多時間學英語，改學別的語言代價太大。

The French negotiation story more likely reflects the EU’s hurt at the UK’s vote — a feeling hidden, as so often, behind a brave “You don’t like us? Well, we’ve never liked you”. You could see this in the “pfft” from Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, when asked how things had gone with Mrs May.

用法語談判的消息更有可能反映了歐盟對英國退歐投票的受傷——這種感受往往是隱藏在一種咄咄逼人的姿態(tài)背后的，就好像“你們不喜歡我們?很好，我們從來也沒喜歡過你們”。當歐盟委員會(European Commission)主席讓-克洛德•容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)被問及跟梅相處得如何時，你可以從他回答的“啐”中看出這一點。

For years, EU officials have been struggling along in English, their second or third language, while the British have breezily chatted away in their mother tongue, oblivious to how exhausting it is for everyone else. Here was a chance to suggest to the Brits that they have a taste of how it feels.

多年來歐盟官員一直勉力說著英語(可能是他們的第二或第三語言)，而英國人則一直輕松地說著自己的母語，完全沒有察覺這對其他人來說有多么費勁?，F(xiàn)在，建議英國人自己嘗嘗這種滋味的機會來了。

More important, with Brexit talks looming, the EU appears to have gained the upper hand. Before the June 23 poll, the Vote Leave campaign suggested that, rather than invoking Article 50 of the EU treaty, the UK would informally negotiate an agreement with its soon-to-be ex-partners.

更重要的是，隨著英國退歐談判臨近，歐盟似乎占據(jù)了上風。在6月23日公投前，退歐派曾暗示，英國將通過非正式談判與即將分道揚鑣的歐盟伙伴達成協(xié)議，而不會觸發(fā)歐盟條約第50條款。

The other EU countries have stood firmly against that. They have made it clear there will be no talks until Article 50 is invoked, forcing Mrs May to announce she would trigger it by spring next year.

對此歐盟其他成員國一直堅決反對。他們明確表示在觸發(fā)第50條前不會進行談判，迫使梅宣布在明年春天觸發(fā)該條款。

Once she does, the UK has two years to formalise its leaving arrangements. The EU can, if it wishes, simply run the clock down and let Britain leave without an agreement. Language reflects power. And, in the teasing suggestion that the Brits bid goodbye in French, Mr Barnier’s officials were saying where they think power now lies.

一旦她這么做了，英國有兩年時間將退歐安排形成正式協(xié)議。只要歐盟想，它就可以干耗時間，讓英國在手中沒有協(xié)議的情況下離開歐盟。語言反映了力量。通過戲虐地建議英國人用法語進行退歐談判，巴尼耶的手下說的正是他們認為現(xiàn)在哪一方擁有力量。