Sovereignty is not the same thing as power
英国脱欧公投无关主权
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If Britain were to vote to leave the EU in June would it regain the sovereignty that those in favour of leaving argue it has lost? The answer is no. The very fact that the UK is holding this vote proves that it remains sovereign. The referendum is not about sovereignty. It is about how best to exercise the country’s power.
如果英国在6月投票决定脱离欧盟(EU)，它会重新获得那些支持脱离欧盟的人声称已丧失的主权么？答案是否定的。英国即将举行公投这一事实，恰恰证明它依然拥有主权。脱欧公投与主权无关，而是事关如何最好地行使英国的权力。
In his pamphlet, Sense on Sovereignty , published in 1991, Sir Noel Malcolm explained that the starting point for any debate on sovereignty should be the distinction between power and authority. A sovereign state possesses the authority to make and implement valid law. A state’s power might be weak, but it is subject to no higher authority. Today, the fact that lawmaking institutions are democratically accountable creates legitimacy. An illegitimate government is a despotism.
诺埃尔•马尔科姆爵士(Sir Noel Malcolm)在他1991年出版的《主权论》(Sense on Sovereignty)一书中解释说，任何围绕主权的争论的起点，都应该是区分权力和权威。主权国家拥有制定和实施有效法律的权威。国家的权力也许会很弱，却不受制于更高的权威。如今，立法机构依照民主制度问责的事实，为其带来了执政合法性。不具有合法性的政府是专制政府。
States exist to serve the interests of their citizens. They can achieve that objective only through co-operation with other states. For this reason, the UK has signed 14,000 treaties. Legally, the UK could withdraw from them all. Since it does not wish to become North Korea, it will not do so. Treaties do not undermine sovereignty, but express it. They constrain the exercise of sovereignty, with the intention of making it more effective. They do so by delegating powers. Some of these powers are matters of life and death. The UK is a member of Nato, for example, because it believes, rightly, that it enhances the security of its citizens.
国家存在的目的，是为了服务于公民的利益。它们只有通过与其他国家合作才能实现这一目标。出于这个原因，英国已签署了1.4万项条约。从法律上说，英国可以退出所有这些条约。由于英国并不想成为朝鲜那样的国家，它不会这么做。条约并不会削弱主权，而是体现主权。条约会约束主权的行使，这是为了提高主权的效力。这些条约是通过对权力的委托做到这一点的。部分此类权力事关生死。比如，英国是北约(NATO)成员国，因为英国正确地认为，北约加强了英国公民的安全。广州翻译公司、广州专业翻译公司。
Is the EU different from other treaties? The answers are: “no” and “yes”.
那么，欧盟与其他条约不一样么？答案既是否定的，也是肯定的。
The answer is no, because the UK can clearly withdraw. This would be complex and painful and might lead to the break-up of the UK, with Scotland deciding to leave. But nobody would seek to stop it. Thus the UK’s membership of the EU does not limit its sovereignty. That remains with the British people’s elected representatives in parliament. The answer is yes, because, as a member, the UK is bound by the treaties, by rulings of the European Court of Justice and by decisions reached by the European parliament and by qualified majority voting in the Council.
答案是否定的，是因为英国显然可以退出欧盟。英国退出欧盟的过程会复杂而又痛苦，还可能因苏格兰决心脱离英国而导致英国的分裂。然而，没人会寻求阻止英国脱欧。也就是说，英国的欧盟成员国身份并未限制其主权。英国的主权掌握在英国人民选出的议会代表手中。而答案是肯定的，则是因为作为欧盟成员国，英国要受到条约、欧洲法院(European Court of Justice)裁决、欧洲议会(European parliament)决议、以及欧洲理事会(European Council)特定多数表决制(qualified majority voting)的制约。
The political question in the referendum is not about sovereignty but about the delegation of powers within a treaty-governed system of particularly far-reaching obligations. Future changes in the relationship between the UK and the EU could make membership effectively irreversible: abolition of the UK parliament would be one, and transfer of full powers over taxation or security could be another. Even membership of the single currency could be viewed in the same way. But, without such far-reaching changes, the UK remains sovereign.
脱欧公投中的政治问题与主权无关，它关系的是一个条约约束的体系中的权力委托问题，而这个体系涉及的义务范围非常广泛。英国与欧盟关系未来发生的某些变化，可能会令英国的欧盟成员国身份不可逆转：废除英国议会就是个例子，而征税和安全权力的全面移交则是另一个例子。即使是欧元区成员国的身份，也可以用同样的观点看待。然而，只要不出现这类影响深远的变化，英国就依然拥有主权。
The question for the UK is whether EU membership strikes a sensible balance between accountability and effectiveness in the exercise of those delegated powers. Yes, the UK is committed to things that many want to avoid — free movement of people, for example. But how does the balance look, overall?
对英国来说，问题在于欧盟成员国身份是否能在问责和所委托权力的有效行使间达成合理的平衡。没错，英国在努力做到许多国家希望避免的事——比如人们的自由迁移。但总体的平衡情况如何呢？
The defects of the EU on accountability are real. The single currency is the best example: the gulf here between accountability, still largely national, and decision-making, now largely supranational, is glaring. Yet the UK is not part of this. The defects of the EU over democratic accountability cannot be solved without truly supranational politics. This is highly unlikely. It would also be highly unwelcome to the UK, since it would terminate national sovereignty.
欧盟在问责方面确实存在缺陷。单一货币就是最好的例子：基本上仍处于国家层面的问责，与基本上处于超国家层面的决策之间，存在令人瞩目的鸿沟。不过，英国并未卷入这个问题。如果没有真正的超国家政治，欧盟在民主问责机制上的缺陷就不能解决。而实现超国家政治的可能性极低。英国也会很不欢迎超国家政治，因为它会终结国家主权。广州翻译公司、广州专业翻译公司。
Yet the EU is also about effectiveness. Charges that President Barack Obama is being hypocritical in arguing in favour of UK membership of the EU miss the point. The US is a superpower: it does not need such an arrangement to influence the world; the UK is not a superpower: it does. Margaret Thatcher accepted the argument for qualified majority voting, to create a single market, for a good reason: without it, that would probably be impossible.
然而，欧盟问题也事关影响力。对于巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)总统支持英国留在欧盟，指责他伪善并没有说到点子上。美国是超级大国，它不需要通过欧盟这种制度安排影响全球。英国不是超级大国，它需要这样的安排。为创建单一市场，玛格丽特•撒切尔(Margaret Thatcher)接受了特定多数表决制。她这么做的理由十分充分：没有这种机制，单一市场可能无法实现。
A salient issue is whether the powers delegated to the EU go beyond what is appropriate to the goals the UK seeks. The answer, notes a report from the Centre for European Policy Studies, is no. The UK’s “balances of competences” review concluded that the powers delegated were appropriate to the goals the UK wanted to achieve. Repatriation of competences duly vanished from the government’s negotiating goals.
一个重要的问题是，委托给欧盟的权力是否超出了对英国所追求目标合适的范围。欧洲政策研究中心(Centre for European Policy Studies)一份报告指出，答案是没有超出。英国的“权限平衡”评估的结论认为，英国所委托的权力符合英国希望实现的目标。英国政府正确地从谈判目标中去掉了收回权限的内容。
The question then is whether membership of the EU is an appropriate exercise of UK sovereignty. Yes, we can identify difficulties over accountability. Yet we also see huge gains in effective exercise of power. Membership gives the UK a say in the future of the European continent. It gives it a potent voice in the positions on global affairs of one of the world’s most powerful actors. It magnifies the UK’s ability to influence global developments that are of vital interest to the welfare of its citizens, such as over climate. It gives it, not least, favourable terms of access to its biggest market. Should we seek substantial further delegation of powers to the EU? Definitely not. But the benefits of what the UK now has — most of the advantages with few of the disadvantages — seem not just evident, but truly substantial.
那么，问题就成了欧盟成员国身份是否是对英国主权的适当行使。没错，我们可以看到在问责方面遇到的困难。然而我们也可以看到在有效行使权力方面的巨大收获。欧盟成员国身份，令英国拥有了对欧洲大陆未来的发言权。它使英国能够以全球最有影响力角色之一的身份对全球事务发出强有力的声音。它放大了英国影响对于对英国公民福祉至关重要的全球发展进程（比如气候问题）的能力。特别是，它使英国得以以优惠的条件进入其最大市场。我们是否应该进一步将大量权力委托给欧盟？当然不应该。但是，英国目前所委托权力带来的好处（这其中多数是益处，几乎没什么不利之处），看起来不仅明显，而且是真正的丰厚。
The strongest criticism of Mr Obama was that he spoke for US interests, not the UK’s. This is doubly mistaken. First, US perceptions of US interests are themselves important in defining UK interests. Second, candid friends often see one’s own interests better than one can oneself. UK sovereignty is not at stake in this referendum. It is, instead, proved by it. The referendum is rather about whether the UK has delegated excessive powers to the EU. The big achievement of David Cameron’s negotiations is to establish that the UK will go no further. Our partners appear to accept this. That being so, the best balance between accountability and effectiveness lies with the status quo. The price of Brexit will be much diminished effectiveness and, at best, moderately greater accountability. That price is far too high.
对奥巴马最强烈的批评意见，是他是为美国利益而不是英国利益说话。这么说犯了两个错误。首先，美国对美国利益的看法本身对定义英国的利益十分重要。其次，耿直的朋友往往比一个人自己更能看清他的利益。这次公投并未令英国主权面临风险。相反，公投证明了英国的主权。实际上，公投涉及的问题，是英国是否将过多权力委托给了欧盟。戴维•卡梅伦(David Cameron)的谈判，最大的收获是确认了英国不会进一步让渡其权力。我们的谈判伙伴似乎接受了这一点。既然这样，问责和有效行使权力的最佳平衡点正是目前的状态。如果退出欧盟，代价将是权力行使的有效性大大降低，而问责充其量只会略有改善。这样的代价太高了。
