Talks on Brexit Slowed Over Trade, Border Issues
英國脫歐談判在貿易和邊境問題上進展緩慢
British and EU officials say they are "deadlocked" after four days of negotiations on Britain's exit from Europe, known as "Brexit."
英國和歐盟官員表示,英國脫歐經過四天的談判之后陷入了僵局。
The two sides appear to disagree on which parts of Brexit should be negotiated first.
雙方似乎對脫歐談判首先應該談什么有不同意見。
EU officials unclear on the British negotiating position
歐盟官員不清楚英國的談判立場
EU officials say British negotiators are not clear about what they want. But, the British side says negotiating a trade deal should come before talks on terms for leaving the EU.
歐盟官員表示,英國談判代表不清楚自己想要什么。但是英方表示,在討論脫歐條款之前應該先談判貿易協議。
Another point of disagreement is the amount of money Britain will have to pay the EU when it leaves. Some estimates place the amount at $89 billion.
另一項不同意見是英國退出時需要向歐盟支付的“分手費。”有人估計該數字為890億美元。
The EU is seeking the money for budget payments and to pay for projects and loans that were agreed to in 2013. That is before the referendum on June 23 of 2016 when Britons voted to leave the EU.
歐盟謀求獲得預算支出的資金,以及2013年商定的項目和貸款所支出的資金。這些都發(fā)生在2016年6月23日英國公投脫歐之前。
Michel Barnier is the chief EU negotiator for Brexit. He told reporters, "To be flexible you need two points, our point and their point. We need to know their position and then I can be flexible."
米歇爾·巴尼耶(Michel Barnier)是歐盟負責英國脫歐談判的首席談判代表。他對記者表示:“要靈活變通,你需要了解雙方的觀點,也就是我們的觀點和對方的觀點。我們需要了解他們的立場,然后才能靈活變通。”
The European parliament's coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt said, "the other party is not responding." Because of this, he said, it "is difficult to start a negotiation."
歐盟議會協調員居伊·伏思達(Guy Verhofstadt)表示:“對方沒有回應。”他說,正因為如此,“我們很難開啟談判。”
Verhofstadt also released a video of himself talking about the difficulties of the negotiations on the social media network Twitter.
伏思達還在社交媒體網站推特網上發(fā)布了一則視頻,他在視頻中談到了談判的各項困難。
He tweeted, "I fear that some of the #Brexit hardliners don't want to negotiate."
他發(fā)推說:“我擔心一些脫歐強硬派不想談判。”
Brexit and trade talks, which comes first?
脫歐和貿易談判,先談哪個?
The EU wants the two sides to make progress on an agreement for Britain to leave the group by October. The EU does not want trade talks to begin until this step is reached.
歐盟希望雙方在10月前就英國脫歐協議取得進展。歐盟不想在實現這一步驟之前就開始貿易談判。
Experts say that the British side does not want to settle on a Brexit payment until they have secured a good free trade deal. The EU, however, has described the Brexit payment and future trade agreement as two separate issues.
專家表示,英方不想在達成一項良好的自由貿易協議之前決定脫歐的賠款。然而歐盟已經將脫歐賠款和未來貿易協定視為兩項獨立議題。
British Prime Minister Theresa May said, "I think a good trade deal is not just about the UK, it is about what is good for businesses in what will be the 27 remaining states of the EU as well."
英國首相特蕾莎·梅(Theresa May)表示:“我認為一項良好的貿易協定不只是英國的事,它也關乎未來剩余的27個歐盟成員國境內企業(yè)的利益。”
May admitted that Britain would have to pay money to the EU on leaving the group. But trade remained the main issue, "I think it is in all our interest to move on to those trade talks and to get a good idea."
梅首相承認,英國必須向歐盟支付“分手費。”但是貿易仍然是主要議題。她說:“我認為繼續(xù)推進貿易談判并取得好的結果,這符合我們大家的利益。”
Questions about border
邊境問題
Border policies are another issue that has slowed talks.
邊境政策是延緩談判的另一項議題。
The two sides have made little progress on how Europeans will be treated under British law and other border issues. The sides must agree on the rights of more than two million European citizens and their families who are living and working in Britain. And an estimated 1.3 million Britons live in EU countries.
雙方在歐洲人根據英國法律享受的待遇以及其它邊境問題上取得的進展不大。雙方必須就超過200萬在英國生活和工作的歐洲公民及其家屬的權利達成一致。另外估計有130萬英國人生活在歐盟國家。
In addition, Britain must work out border issues with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member. Ireland and Northern Ireland oppose harsh border policies fearing a renewal of the Irish conflict. Ireland also has threatened to veto trade negotiations until officials are satisfied with the border agreement.
此外,英國必須與歐盟成員國愛爾蘭解決邊境問題。愛爾蘭和北愛爾蘭反對嚴厲的邊境政策,擔心愛爾蘭沖突再起。愛爾蘭也威脅要否決貿易談判,直到有關官員對邊境協議滿意為止。
Disagreement within Britain
英國內部分歧
Some former British officials have criticized the British governments negotiating strategy. They say it shows sharp disagreements between members of May's cabinet and Conservative Party parliament ministers.
英國一些前官員對英國政府的談判策略提出了批評。他們說,這凸顯了梅首相的內閣成員和保守黨議會大臣們之間的分歧。
They disagree on whether Britain should remain a member of the EU single market and customs union. Such a move would make trade easier, but Britain would have no control over trade rules set by the EU after it leaves the group.
他們對英國是否應該繼續(xù)作為歐盟單一市場和關稅同盟的成員國持有不同意見。這類舉措會讓貿易更容易,但是在脫歐之后英國將會無法控制歐盟制定的貿易規(guī)則。
Finance minister Phil Hammond has the support of many top business leaders. He is trying to influence the Conservative Party away from a sharp break with Europe and its rules—what is being called a "hard Brexit."
英國財長菲爾·哈蒙德(Phil Hammond)獲得了很多頂級商界領袖的支持。他試圖影響保守黨不要同歐洲急劇決裂,也就是所謂的“硬脫歐。”
The public is growing more concerned about Brexit according to opinion studies because of increasingly bad economic news.
根據民意調查結果,由于經濟方面的不利消息不斷,公眾越來越關注脫歐。
There also are concerns that Britain will lose many of the EU citizens who live and work in the country. The professional services company KPMG said in a study that about one million EU citizens, many who are highly educated, are planning to leave the country because of Brexit.
還有人擔心英國會失去眾多在該國生活和工作的歐盟公民。專業(yè)服務公司畢馬威在一項研究中表示,因為英國脫歐,約有1百萬歐盟公民計劃離開該國,其中多數受過高等教育。
I'm Mario Ritter.
馬里奧·里特報道。
British and EU officials say they are “deadlocked” after four days of negotiations on Britain’s exit from Europe, known as “Brexit.”
The two sides appear to disagree on which parts of Brexit should be negotiated first.
EU officials unclear on the British negotiating position
EU officials say British negotiators are not clear about what they want. But, the British side says negotiating a trade deal should come before talks on terms for leaving the EU.
Another point of disagreement is the amount of money Britain will have to pay the EU when it leaves. Some estimates place the amount at $89 billion.
The EU is seeking the money for budget payments and to pay for projects and loans that were agreed to in 2013. That is before the referendum on June 23 of 2016 when Britons voted to leave the EU.
Michel Barnier is the chief EU negotiator for Brexit. He told reporters, “To be flexibleyou need two points, our point and their point. We need to know their position and then I can be flexible.”
The European parliament’s coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt said, “the other party is not responding.” Because of this, he said, it “is difficult to start a negotiation.”
Verhofstadt also released a video of himself talking about the difficulties of the negotiations on the social media network Twitter.
He tweeted, “I fear that some of the #Brexit hardliners don’t want to negotiate.”
Brexit and trade talks, which comes first?
The EU wants the two sides to make progress on an agreement for Britain to leave the group by October. The EU does not want trade talks to begin until this step is reached.
Experts say that the British side does not want to settle on a Brexit payment until they have secured a good free trade deal. The EU, however, has described the Brexit payment and future trade agreement as two separate issues.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said, “I think a good trade deal is not just about the UK, it is about what is good for businesses in what will be the 27 remaining states of the EU as well.”
May admitted that Britain would have to pay money to the EU on leaving the group. But trade remained the main issue, “I think it is in all our interest to move on to those trade talks and to get a good idea.”
Questions about border
Border policies are another issue that has slowed talks.
The two sides have made little progress on how Europeans will be treated under British law and other border issues. The sides must agree on the rights of more than two million European citizens and their families who are living and working in Britain. And an estimated 1.3 million Britons live in EU countries.
In addition, Britain must work out border issues with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member. Ireland and Northern Ireland oppose harsh border policies fearing a renewal of the Irish conflict. Ireland also has threatened to veto trade negotiations until officials are satisfied with the border agreement.
Disagreement within Britain
Some former British officials have criticized the British governments negotiating strategy. They say it shows sharp disagreements between members of May’s cabinet and Conservative Party parliament ministers.
They disagree on whether Britain should remain a member of the EU single market and customs union. Such a move would make trade easier, but Britain would have no control over trade rules set by the EU after it leaves the group.
Finance minister Phil Hammond has the support of many top business leaders. He is trying to influence the Conservative Party away from a sharp break with Europe and its rules—what is being called a “hard Brexit.”
The public is growing more concerned about Brexit according to opinion studies because of increasingly bad economic news.
There also are concerns that Britain will lose many of the EU citizens who live and work in the country. The professional services company KPMG said in a study that about one million EU citizens, many who are highly educated, are planning to leave the country because of Brexit.
I’m Mario Ritter.
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Words in This Story
deadlocked –adj. unable to move forward,
flexible –adj. willing to change or do things differently
customs –n. the system of taxes and costs that a government seeks when goods come into the country from another country