英國退歐“離婚協(xié)議”在最后關頭受阻

Brexit divorce derailed at 11th hour as May allies snub Irish border deal
英國退歐“離婚協(xié)議”在最后關頭受阻

A carefully choreographed divorce deal between London and Brussels was derailed at the eleventh hour yesterday after Northern Ireland’s hardline Unionists rejected Theresa May’s agreement potentially to keep the province aligned with EU law after Brexit.

昨日，倫敦和布魯塞爾之間精心擬定的一項“離婚協(xié)議”在最后關頭受阻，原因是北愛爾蘭立場強硬的統(tǒng)一派拒絕接受特里薩•梅(Theresa May)的協(xié)議，該協(xié)議可能使北愛爾蘭地區(qū)在英國退歐之后繼續(xù)實行歐盟法律。

Mrs May, who travelled to Brussels to finalise the agreement with Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, was forced to back away after the pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist party objected that it would prevent Northern Ireland from leaving the EU “on the same terms” as the rest of the UK.

已經前往布魯塞爾與歐盟委員會主席讓-克洛德•容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)敲定這項協(xié)議的英國首相被迫放棄。支持英國退歐的民主統(tǒng)一黨(Democratic Unionist Party, DUP)表示反對該協(xié)議，理由是該協(xié)議將阻止北愛爾蘭與聯合王國的其他地區(qū)“以相同的條款”離開歐盟。

The DUP provides the UK prime minister with her majority in parliament and it accused the Irish Republic, which had been engaged in weeks of talks with Mr Juncker and Mrs May to secure yesterday's divorce pact, of improperly meddling in Northern Ireland politics.

民主統(tǒng)一黨的支持使英國首相在議會擁有多數席位。該黨指責愛爾蘭共和國不適當地插手北愛爾蘭政治；此前愛爾蘭同容克和梅進行了持續(xù)數周的商談，好不容易談成昨日的“離婚協(xié)議”。

Dublin is insisting Brexit does not create a hard border with Northern Ireland, potentially undermining the 1998 peace accord that ended the Troubles.

愛爾蘭方面堅持要求，英國退歐不能導致愛爾蘭共和國與北愛爾蘭之間出現“硬邊界”，潛在破壞1998年達成的、終結了北愛爾蘭問題的和平協(xié)議。

“Despite our best efforts and significant progress . . . it was not possible to reach a complete agreement today,” said Mr Juncker after the talks with Mrs May broke down. “This is not a failure, this is the start of the very last round.”

“盡管我們盡了最大努力，取得了重大進展……但今天不可能達成一項完整的協(xié)議，”容克在與梅的談判破裂后表示。“這不是失敗，這是最后一輪的開端。”

He added that he still expected divorce talks to make sufficient progress by an EU summit next week, so that the two sides could begin phase two talks on EU-UK relations and a transition deal, which is keenly sought by business.

他補充說，他仍然期待分離談判能夠在下周舉行歐盟峰會之前取得充分進展，以便雙方可以啟動第二階段談判，討論歐英關系以及商界大力呼吁的過渡協(xié)議。

The deal was blocked after Mrs May failed to secure the support of Arlene Foster, the leader of the pro-Brexit DUP, in a phone call made from the commission’s Berlaymont headquarters.

梅在布魯塞爾貝爾萊蒙大廈(Bâtiment Berlaymont)的歐盟委員會總部致電支持退歐的民主統(tǒng)一黨領導人阿琳•福斯特(Arlene Foster)，尋求支持，沒想到后者不答應，致使協(xié)議受阻。

Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister, said that he was “surprised and disappointed” the UK was not in a position “to conclude what was agreed”. He added that Mrs May had asked for more time, and that he believed she was negotiating “in good faith”.

愛爾蘭總理利奧•瓦拉德卡(Leo Varadkar)表示，他對聯合王國不能“就已經同意的東西達成協(xié)議”感到“意外和失望”。他補充說，梅要求更多時間，而他相信她“帶著誠意”進行談判。

Yesterday’s failure endangers the planned timetable for the run-up to the EU summit, reducing time available for member states to develop guidelines on future trade negotiations. Donald Tusk, the European Council president, tweeted that agreement was still possible but said “it is now getting very tight”.

昨日的挫敗危及歐盟峰會之前本來安排好的時間表，縮短了成員國可用來擬定未來貿易談判指導方針的時間。歐洲理事會主席唐納德•圖斯克(Donald Tusk)在Twitter上寫道，仍有可能達成協(xié)議，但是“現在在時間上搞得非常緊張”。

The setback also puts at risk draft compromises painstakingly worked up in recent weeks, which must now be revisited in light of DUP objections that, if ignored, would threaten Mrs May’s parliamentary majority.

這一挫折也危及最近幾周煞費苦心擬定的妥協(xié)方案。面對民主統(tǒng)一黨的反對，現在必須重新審議這些妥協(xié)；如果不理會該黨的意見，梅在議會的多數席位將受到威脅。

Mrs May is expected to hold further talks with the DUP today and has cleared her diary for a possible return to Brussels tomorrow. “I am confident that we will conclude this positively,” Mrs May said. But Tory MPs were dismayed she had failed to nail down Mrs Foster’s support before presenting the proposal. “I find the whole thing quite inexplicable, that you would go to Brussels ready to table a proposal that you haven’t squared,” said a Tory Eurosceptic MP.

預計梅今日將與民主統(tǒng)一黨舉行進一步商談，她已在日程表上為明日可能返回布魯塞爾做好了安排。“我相信我們會積極地完成這件事，”梅表示。但是保守黨議員們對于梅未能在提交建議之前爭取福斯特的支持感到沮喪。“我發(fā)現整件事情匪夷所思，有人竟然準備去布魯塞爾提交一個自己尚未征得同意的提案，”持疑歐立場的一名保守黨議員表示。

譯者/和風