欧盟官员挑起是非 英国退欧用法语谈判

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.

一名熟悉布鲁塞尔英国退欧特别小组的欧盟官员不久前挑起了是非：他向路透社(Reuters)表示，有关英国退欧的谈判将以法语进行。

The story prompted the reaction the prankster was no doubt hoping for.

这件事引发的反应无疑正中这位恶作剧之人的下怀。

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.

英国首相特里萨.梅(Theresa May)称：我们将以确保英国得到合适协议的方式进行谈判。

Which the UK tabloid The Sun reported as Theresa May slaps down Eurocrat’s barmy bid to make us negotiate EU exit in FRENCH.

对此，英国小报《太阳报》(The Sun)报道称，特里萨.梅断然拒绝了欧盟官员让我们用法语进行退欧谈判的疯癫提议。

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.

欧盟负责英国退欧谈判的专员（或者按他Twitter账号的描述——与英国谈判首席代表(chef de la négociation avec le Royaume-Uni)）米歇尔.巴尼耶(Michel Barnier)用英语发表推文：从来没有在谈判语言上发表过看法。

Work as often in English as French.

工作中用英语和用法语一样多。

Linguistic regime to be set at start — to be agreed between negotiators.

谈判的语言会在开始时设定好——经过谈判双方的同意。

Of course it will.

当然是这样。

The EU could hardly force the British side to negotiate in French, even if they were up to it.

欧盟几乎没法迫使英方用法语谈判，即使英方法语说得够好。

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.

2015年11月在法国遭受恐怖袭击后，梅在声援法国时曾说过几句法语，但是她的表现并未让人觉得她的法语好到足以辩论各种问题——比如英国退欧后由谁来为英国籍欧盟官员支付养老金的问题。

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.

我听过英国外交大臣鲍里斯.约翰逊(Boris Johnson)用法语接受采访，说得很不错。但是梅不太可能让他参与谈判。

I asked the office of David Davis, secretary of state for exiting the EU, whether he spoke any foreign languages.

我曾询问负责退欧事务的国务大臣戴维.戴维斯(David Davis)的办公室，戴维斯是否会说任何外语。

I was promised a response but did not receive one, which I think we can take as a non.

对方承诺会回复我，但是始终没有回复，我觉得我们可以理解为答案是不会。

Mr Barnier’s English is fluent but, if he wants to negotiate in French, no one can stop him either.

巴尼耶的英语很流利，但是，如果他想用法语谈判，也没人能阻止他。

If the two sides insist on speaking their own languages, the EU employs interpreters.

如果双方都坚持说各自的语言，欧盟会安排翻译。

But that does not mean this squall was meaningless.

但那并不意味着这场风波毫无意义。

Because English is now the world’s most widely spoken second language, native speakers usually launch into English without a thought.

因为如今英语是全球使用最广泛的第二语言，以其他语言为母语者往往会不假思索地使用英语。

In business, diplomacy and, often, in the street, they will usually receive an English reply.

在商务和外交场合、以及街头，他们通常会得到英语回复。

Indeed, with an estimated one in four speaking English worldwide, it has become hard to receive a response in any other language.

的确，以全世界每四个人中估计便有一个人说英语的比例推算，人们已经很难得到其他语言的回复了。

When the diminishing group of native English speakers who speak other languages try them out, they often receive an English reply.

会说其他语言的以英语为母语者（这样的人越来越少）试着说其他语言时，对方往往会跟他们说英语。

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.

2014年，当我写到这个现象时，世界各地以英语为母语的人都发来邮件，表示他们也遭遇了相同问题：无论他们多努力地学习其他语言，别人都想练习自己的英语。

Some readers suggested persisting in the other person’s language until they caved in and replied in it.

一些读者建议坚持使用对方的语言，直到对方放弃说英语，开始用自己的语言回复。

This language jockeying is a bit of a game and, in my experience, no one plays it better than the French.

这种围绕语言的博弈有点像个游戏，以我的经验来看，这个游戏没人比法国人玩得更溜了。

Decades ago, anyone asking an English question in France risked a shrug and brush-off.

几十年前，在法国用英语问问题，对方可能会耸耸肩、不理你。

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.

如今，试着用法语提问更可能得到英语回复，带有一种让我们来糟蹋你们陈腐的语言，别来糟蹋我们纯洁无暇的语言的意味。

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.

那么欧盟官员暗示让英国人用法语谈判的用意何在？我们可以先排除最容易想到的答案，即：英国离开欧盟后，法国人希望法语将取代英语成为欧盟通用语言。

They know that is not going to happen.

他们知道这不可能。

People have spent too much time learning English to switch.

人们已经投入了太多时间学英语，改学别的语言代价太大。

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.

用法语谈判的消息更有可能反映了欧盟对英国退欧投票的受伤——这种感受往往是隐藏在一种咄咄逼人的姿态背后的，就好像你们不喜欢我们？很好，我们从来也没喜欢过你们。

You could see this in the pfft from Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, when asked how things had gone with Mrs May.

当欧盟委员会(European Commission)主席让-克洛德.容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)被问及跟梅相处得如何时，你可以从他回答的啐中看出这一点。

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.

多年来欧盟官员一直勉力说着英语（可能是他们的第二或第三语言），而英国人则一直轻松地说着自己的母语，完全没有察觉这对其他人来说有多么费劲。

Here was a chance to suggest to the Brits that they have a taste of how it feels.

现在，建议英国人自己尝尝这种滋味的机会来了。

More important, with Brexit talks looming, the EU appears to have gained the upper hand.

更重要的是，随着英国退欧谈判临近，欧盟似乎占据了上风。

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.

在6月23日公投前，退欧派曾暗示，英国将通过非正式谈判与即将分道扬镳的欧盟伙伴达成协议，而不会触发欧盟条约第50条款。

The other EU countries have stood firmly against that.

对此欧盟其他成员国一直坚决反对。

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.

他们明确表示在触发第50条前不会进行谈判，迫使梅宣布在明年春天触发该条款。

Once she does, the UK has two years to formalise its leaving arrangements.

一旦她这么做了，英国有两年时间将退欧安排形成正式协议。

The EU can, if it wishes, simply run the clock down and let Britain leave without an agreement.

只要欧盟想，它就可以干耗时间，让英国在手中没有协议的情况下离开欧盟。

Language reflects power.

语言反映了力量。

And, in the teasing suggestion that the Brits bid goodbye in French, Mr Barnier’s officials were saying where they think power now lies.

通过戏虐地建议英国人用法语进行退欧谈判，巴尼耶的手下说的正是他们认为现在哪一方拥有力量。