德国工商界领袖批评英国拖延退欧谈判

The head of one of Germany’s leading industry lobby groups has warned that delays in launching the UK’s Brexit negotiations are prolonging the uncertainty hanging over the British economy and hitting investment plans.

德国知名行业游说组织之一的负责人警告称，拖延启动英国退欧谈判将延长悬在英国经济头上的不确定性，对投资计划造成打击。

In an interview with the FT, Eric Schweitzer, head of DIHK, the German chamber of commerce and industry, criticised the decision by Theresa May, UK prime minister, to postpone Brexit talks until next year and failing to set a specific date.

在接受英国《金融时报》采访时，德国工商大会(DIHK)主席史伟哲(Eric Schweitzer)批评英国首相特里萨•梅（Theresa May，上图左）决定将退欧谈判推迟至明年而且未能设定一个具体日期。

The deadlock is creating a situation in which many investments are now held up and will not be carried out because people don’t know . . . what the conditions will be over three or four years, Mr Schweitzer said.

史伟哲表示：这一僵局正在造就这样一种局面：许多投资现在都已被搁置，而且不会得到执行，因为人们不清楚……接下来三四年的情况如何。

Quality was more important than speed in preparing negotiations, he said.

他说，就谈判的筹备工作而言，质量比速度更重要。

But it was essential that negotiations concluded in an appropriate timeframe.

不过，在适当的时间框架内完成谈判是十分必要的。

Mr Schweitzer, whose organisation represents 3.5m companies and entrepreneurs, said he was not threatening the UK but that it was clear the economic effects of Brexit would be negative for the EU and very negative for Britain: Great Britain will suffer economically.

史伟哲掌管的组织代表350万公司和创业家的利益。他表示，他这么说不是在恐吓英国，但英国退欧对欧盟(EU)的经济影响显然将是负面的，对英国的经济影响显然将非常负面：英国经济将受到打击。

That is not a threat but simply the logical consequence of the process.

这不是什么恐吓，而完全是这一过程得出的合乎逻辑的结果。

German companies are already under pressure amid the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s exit from the EU, with the DIHK forecasting a 1 per cent decline in German exports to the UK this year and 5 per cent in 2017.

受英国退欧产生的不确定性影响，德国企业已然承受着压力。德国工商大会预计，今年德国对英出口将下滑1%，2017年会下滑5%。