英国首相打响退欧发令枪

Theresa May signed the historic letter that starts Britain’s exit from the EU yesterday, amid signs the prime minister is willing to compromise to prevent the UK’s 44-year relationship with the bloc ending in acrimonious divorce.

特里萨•梅(Theresa May)昨日签署了启动英国退欧的历史性信函。目前有迹象显示，英国首相愿意妥协，以防止英国与欧盟44年的关系以不欢而散告终。

Although Mrs May will make it clear she is prepared to walk away without a deal, behind the scenes British officials have signalled a readiness to soften rigid positions in areas such as the role of the European Court of Justice and the so-called exit bill and to strengthen security ties.

虽然梅将明确表示，她准备在谈不拢的情况下放弃谈判，但在幕后，英国官员们发出信号，愿意在一些领域放软僵硬的立场，比如欧洲法院(European Court of Justice)的角色以及所谓的退出账单，同时加强安全联系。

The official Article 50 exit process will begin today at just after 1.30pm in Brussels, when Sir Tim Barrow, Britain’s ambassador to the EU, presents Mrs May’s letter of withdrawal to Donald Tusk, European Council president.

正式的第50条退欧程序将于今日下午1时30分过后在布鲁塞尔启动，届时英国驻欧盟大使蒂姆•巴罗爵士(Sir Tim Barrow)向欧洲理事会(European Council)主席唐纳德•图斯克(Donald Tusk)呈交梅的退出信函。

But the start of two years of Brexit talks has been accompanied by a fresh effort by Mrs May to build bridges with EU counterparts, including a new offer in the Article 50 letter to beef up security co-operation with Europe, according to officials.

但是，据官员们介绍，在启动为期两年的英国退欧谈判的同时，梅发起了与欧盟同僚构建桥梁的新努力，包括在触发第50条的信中提出加强与欧洲的安全合作。

In another concession, Downing Street said yesterday that Mrs May would not use the notification of Article 50 to announce the immediate cessation of full citizen rights for new EU arrivals in Britain. MEPs insist full rights must apply until Brexit is complete.

另一个让步是，唐宁街昨日表示，梅不会借发出第50条通知之机宣布立即停止今后入境英国的欧盟人士的全部公民权利。欧洲议会议员们坚持要求，这些权利在英国退欧完成前必须得到保持。

There are also signs that Mrs May’s promise “to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain” is being recalibrated to provide room for manoeuvre.

此外还有迹象表明，梅对于“终止欧洲法院在英国的管辖权”的承诺正得到重新调整，以提供回旋空间。

The Brexit department said that this meant “bringing to an end the direct jurisdiction” of the court in the UK, raising the possibility that the ECJ might have some non-binding or partial role in settling trade disputes and in policing a transitional deal.

英国的退欧部表示，这意味着终止欧洲法院在英国的“直接管辖权”，从而留出这样的可能性，即欧洲法院也许在解决贸易争端和管辖过渡协议方面具有一些不具约束力或部分的作用。

Diplomats expect a bumpy start to talks over a UK Brexit “bill”, which Brussels has put at about €60bn, but highlight the flexibility of Mrs May’s formulation that “the days of Britain making vast contributions to the European Union every year will end”.

外交官们预期，围绕英国退欧“账单”(布鲁塞尔称其总额达到约600亿欧元)的谈判将有一个不顺利的开端，但他们指出，梅的立场(“英国每年向欧盟缴纳大量资金的日子将会结束”)会有灵活性。

Although Eurosceptics in the ruling Conservative party are hostile, Mrs May’s language would allow a significant one-off payment for any outstanding liabilities — including money committed to infrastructure projects in eastern Europe — plus annual fees for specific programmes.

虽然执政党保守党内的欧洲怀疑者抱有敌对态度，但梅的措辞将允许对任何未偿支付义务(包括对东欧基础设施项目承诺的资金)进行重大的一次性付款，加上针对特定计划的年度贡献。

European capitals note a more moderate tone from British ministers and a private recognition that an exit with no trade deal in place would create economic havoc, in spite of foreign secretary Boris Johnson’s claim it would be “perfectly OK”. They also say Mrs May is coming around to the idea that it may be impossible to finalise a trade deal within 18 months and that a transitional deal may be needed.

欧洲各国注意到英国部长级官员们近来的表态比较温和，而且后者私下承认，在没有任何贸易协议的情况下退出将带来经济破坏，尽管英国外交大臣鲍里斯•约翰逊(Boris Johnson)声称那将“完全没问题”。他们还表示，梅开始接受这样的想法，即在18个月内敲定一份贸易协议或许办不到，因而可能需要一份过渡协议。

In spite of the change in the mood music — Brexit minister David Davis publicly refers to the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier as “Michel” — some diplomats in both London and Brussels believe the chances of a deal are no greater than 50:50.

尽管背景音乐发生了变化——英国退欧大臣戴维•戴维斯(David Davis)在公开场合把欧盟首席谈判代表米歇尔•巴尼尔(Michel Barnier)亲切地称为“米歇尔”——但伦敦和布鲁塞尔的一些外交官认为，达成一项协议的几率不超过50:50。