英國(guó)退歐用法語(yǔ)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(guó)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(guān)英國(guó)退歐的談判將以法語(yǔ)進(jìn)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(yīng)無(wú)疑正中這位惡作劇之人的下懷。英國(guó)首相特里薩•梅(Theresa May)稱：“我們將以確保英國(guó)得到合適協(xié)議的方式進(jìn)行談判。”對(duì)此，英國(guó)小報(bào)《太陽(yáng)報(bào)》(The Sun)報(bào)道稱，“特里薩•梅斷然拒絕了歐盟官員讓我們用法語(yǔ)進(jìn)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(fù)責(zé)英國(guó)退歐談判的專員(或者按他Twitter賬號(hào)的描述——“與英國(guó)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(yǔ)發(fā)表推文：“從來(lái)沒(méi)有在談判語(yǔ)言上發(fā)表過(guò)看法。工作中用英語(yǔ)和用法語(yǔ)一樣多。談判的語(yǔ)言會(huì)在開(kāi)始時(shí)設(shè)定好——經(jīng)過(guò)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(dāng)然是這樣。歐盟幾乎沒(méi)法迫使英方用法語(yǔ)談判，即使英方法語(yǔ)說(shuō)得夠好。2015年11月在法國(guó)遭受恐怖襲擊后，梅在聲援法國(guó)時(shí)曾說(shuō)過(guò)幾句法語(yǔ)，但是她的表現(xiàn)并未讓人覺(jué)得她的法語(yǔ)好到足以辯論各種問(wèn)題——比如英國(guó)退歐后由誰(shuí)來(lái)為英國(guó)籍歐盟官員支付養(yǎng)老金的問(wèn)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(tīng)過(guò)英國(guó)外交大臣鮑里斯•約翰遜(Boris Johnson)用法語(yǔ)接受采訪，說(shuō)得很不錯(cuò)。但是梅不太可能讓他參與談判。我曾詢問(wèn)負(fù)責(zé)退歐事務(wù)的國(guó)務(wù)大臣戴維•戴維斯(David Davis)的辦公室，戴維斯是否會(huì)說(shuō)任何外語(yǔ)。對(duì)方承諾會(huì)回復(fù)我，但是始終沒(méi)有回復(fù)，我覺(jué)得我們可以理解為答案是“不會(huì)”。巴尼耶的英語(yǔ)很流利，但是，如果他想用法語(yǔ)談判，也沒(méi)人能阻止他。如果雙方都堅(jiān)持說(shuō)各自的語(yǔ)言，歐盟會(huì)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(chǎng)風(fēng)波毫無(wú)意義。因?yàn)槿缃裼⒄Z(yǔ)是全球使用最廣泛的第二語(yǔ)言，以其他語(yǔ)言為母語(yǔ)者往往會(huì)不假思索地使用英語(yǔ)。在商務(wù)和外交場(chǎng)合、以及街頭，他們通常會(huì)得到英語(yǔ)回復(fù)。

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(gè)人中估計(jì)便有一個(gè)人說(shuō)英語(yǔ)的比例推算，人們已經(jīng)很難得到其他語(yǔ)言的回復(fù)了。會(huì)說(shuō)其他語(yǔ)言的以英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)者(這樣的人越來(lái)越少)試著說(shuō)其他語(yǔ)言時(shí)，對(duì)方往往會(huì)跟他們說(shuō)英語(yǔ)。2014年，當(dāng)我寫到這個(gè)現(xiàn)象時(shí)，世界各地以英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)的人都發(fā)來(lái)郵件，表示他們也遭遇了相同問(wèn)題：無(wú)論他們多努力地學(xué)習(xí)其他語(yǔ)言，別人都想練習(xí)自己的英語(yǔ)。

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(jiān)持使用對(duì)方的語(yǔ)言，直到對(duì)方放棄說(shuō)英語(yǔ)，開(kāi)始用自己的語(yǔ)言回復(fù)。這種圍繞語(yǔ)言的博弈有點(diǎn)像個(gè)游戲，以我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)來(lái)看，這個(gè)游戲沒(méi)人比法國(guó)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(guó)用英語(yǔ)問(wèn)問(wèn)題，對(duì)方可能會(huì)聳聳肩、不理你。如今，試著用法語(yǔ)提問(wèn)更可能得到英語(yǔ)回復(fù)，帶有一種“讓我們來(lái)糟蹋你們陳腐的語(yǔ)言，別來(lái)糟蹋我們純潔無(wú)暇的語(yǔ)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(guó)人用法語(yǔ)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(guó)離開(kāi)歐盟后，法國(guó)人希望法語(yǔ)將取代英語(yǔ)成為歐盟通用語(yǔ)言。他們知道這不可能。人們已經(jīng)投入了太多時(shí)間學(xué)英語(yǔ)，改學(xué)別的語(yǔ)言代價(jià)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(yǔ)談判的消息更有可能反映了歐盟對(duì)英國(guó)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(lái)也沒(méi)喜歡過(guò)你們”。當(dāng)歐盟委員會(huì)(European Commission)主席讓-克洛德•容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)被問(wèn)及跟梅相處得如何時(shí)，你可以從他回答的“啐”中看出這一點(diǎn)。

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(lái)歐盟官員一直勉力說(shuō)著英語(yǔ)(可能是他們的第二或第三語(yǔ)言)，而英國(guó)人則一直輕松地說(shuō)著自己的母語(yǔ)，完全沒(méi)有察覺(jué)這對(duì)其他人來(lái)說(shuō)有多么費(fèi)勁?，F(xiàn)在，建議英國(guó)人自己嘗嘗這種滋味的機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)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(guó)退歐談判臨近，歐盟似乎占據(jù)了上風(fēng)。在6月23日公投前，退歐派曾暗示，英國(guó)將通過(guò)非正式談判與即將分道揚(yáng)鑣的歐盟伙伴達(dá)成協(xié)議，而不會(huì)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(duì)此歐盟其他成員國(guó)一直堅(jiān)決反對(duì)。他們明確表示在觸發(fā)第50條前不會(huì)進(jìn)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(guó)有兩年時(shí)間將退歐安排形成正式協(xié)議。只要?dú)W盟想，它就可以干耗時(shí)間，讓英國(guó)在手中沒(méi)有協(xié)議的情況下離開(kāi)歐盟。語(yǔ)言反映了力量。通過(guò)戲虐地建議英國(guó)人用法語(yǔ)進(jìn)行退歐談判，巴尼耶的手下說(shuō)的正是他們認(rèn)為現(xiàn)在哪一方擁有力量。