VOA常速英语2016--直布罗陀担心英国脱欧之举会使直失去欧盟保护

直布罗陀担心英国脱欧之举会使直失去欧盟保护

Red phone boxes, double-decker buses and pubs, Gibraltar is an unmistakable British outpost in southern Europe. The territory was ceded 1 to Britain by Spain in 1713; a British vote to leave the EU could give a boost to Madrid’s hopes of reclaiming 2 sovereignty over the territory. “It is part of the European treaty system that they’re not actively 3 allowed to pursue a claim to Gibraltar, whilst Britain is a member of the European Union. So in a way, the European Union is protecting Gibraltar. Spain has in the past tightened 4 border controls at times of heightened tension. Madrid has accused Gibraltarians of cross-border tobacco and liquor smuggling 5, and that could be used as a pretext 6 for closing the frontier, effectively cutting off Gibraltar’s 30,000 residents. “Like any sovereign state not bound by treaties, Spain would be absolutely entitled to close those borders to a territory that is no longer part of the European Union. Gibraltar’s economy grew by more than 10 percent last year, fueled by its attractiveness as a low tax environment with access to the EU Single Market. Gibraltar’s leader, Fabian Picardo, fears the consequences of a vote to leave. “How do you change your economic model to go from being able to sell to 520 million people to sell only to 32,000 people? These are challenges which are existential to the current economic model; we would have to completely reposition our economy, and it's something that's going to be very difficult. In Britain, polls suggest the "Leave" campaign has pulled ahead; but in Gibraltar a huge majority of residents say they will vote to stay in the European Union. "There might be a lot of debate, as we say, 'You fight within the family, but you don't leave the family.' Because as British Prime Minister David Cameron said, 'What do you want to be, little England or little France?' We've got to be together.” Campaigners who want to leave the EU say Spain already ignores the bloc’s rules on recognizing the territory’s sovereignty; but the people of Gibraltar fear a so-called Brexit could leave them cut off on the very tip of Europe.

拥有红色电话亭、双层巴士和酒吧的直布罗陀绝对是英国在南欧的哨站。直布罗陀是西班牙于1713年割让给英国的；而英国此时公投离开欧盟的决议可能会鼓励西班牙重新获得直布罗陀的领土主权。 “英国未脱离欧盟前，根据欧盟条约体系的规定，西班牙无权占有直布罗陀。所以，从某种程度来说，欧盟也是在保护直布罗陀。”曾几何时，双边关系高度紧张，西班牙曾加强了国界防控。西班牙指责过直布罗陀跨国运输烟酒走私。这也可能成为西班牙封锁国界，这会极大影响直布罗陀的3万居民。 “由于西班牙不受欧盟条约的限制，因此绝对有权对不再属于欧盟一部分的领土封锁国界。”直布罗陀的经济仅去年一年就上涨了10%，究其原因要归于其可进入欧盟单一市场，从而税率较低。直布罗陀领导人费边·皮卡多担心英国公投后脱离欧盟。“如果经济曾经经历过5.2亿客户的境遇，还如何能接受下降到3.2万的情况呢？”这是目前经济模式所面临的不争事实。面对这种挑战，我们必须重新调整经济，而这非常之难。

英国选民对脱离欧盟的支持率遥遥领先，而直布罗陀的大多数选民表示，他们会投反对票。“不能轻易地脱离欧盟，我们常常说，‘虽然一个家庭内部会有矛盾，但是你还是不能说走就走。’因为英国首相卡梅伦也说过，‘脱离后，我们只能做微小的英国或法国，所以我们必须团结在一起。’”欲脱离欧盟的许多人士表示，西班牙早就无视欧盟的条约体系了。而直布罗陀的许多人担心，英国脱离欧盟的决议会让他们也与欧盟隔离开来。