評論
打印
Europe
歐洲板塊
Charlemagne
查理曼專欄
The right to sell passports
出售護照的權利
A crackdown on “golden passports” raises questions about citizenship the EU would rather not answer
對“黃金護照”的打擊引發了有關公民身份的問題，歐盟不愿對此作出應答
An EU passport is one of the most desirable documents on the planet. Its bearer can live and work in 27 different countries, all of them prosperous and peaceful. Many have excellent food, too. In the birthright lottery of citizenship, those with a burgundy ticket marked “European Union” are among the lucky winners. Putting a pricetag on this is hard, but Cyprus has managed it. Invest 2.2m euros ($2.6m) in the island and a Cypriot passport with all the benefits of EU citizenship can be yours. Malta runs a similar (and, at just over 1m euros, rather cheaper) scheme for anyone tired of travelling with papers that open fewer doors.
歐盟護照是世界人民最向往的證件之一。其持有者可以在27個不同國家生活和工作，而且所有這些國家都是繁榮和平的。其中有許多國家盛產美味的食物。在很幸運地擁有出生公民權的人中，那些擁有勃艮第酒紅色封皮，且封皮上標注“歐洲聯盟”字樣的護照的公民是幸運兒。給歐盟護照明碼標價是一件很難的事情，但是塞浦路斯做到了。只要你向塞浦路斯島國投資220萬歐元（合260萬美元），就可以獲得一張該國的護照，并享受歐盟公民身份的所有好處。馬耳他國也運行了類似的方案（價格略高于100萬歐元，相較要更便宜），該方案適用于那些厭倦了持有只能通行幾個國家的簽證的公民們。
Not everyone thinks this is a good idea. In a recent speech Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president, mentioned such “golden passports” as one of a list of threats to the rule of law in Europe, alongside judge-nobbling. Her annoyance is understandable. Since anyone with an EU passport can move anywhere in the bloc, a quick buck for the Cypriot government can create problems for the rest of the EU. Cyprus has made 7bn euros from the scheme since its launch in 2013, which amounts to a quarter of the island’s annual GDP. It has sold passports to plenty of rich but disagreeable folk, who are now free to settle in Germany or France.
但并不是每個人都覺得這是好主意。在最近的一次演講中，歐盟委員會主席烏蘇拉·馮·德萊恩提到，這種“黃金護照”是對歐洲法治的一系列威脅之一，同樣也侵害著審判。她的煩惱是可以理解的。因為持有歐盟護照的人可以在歐盟成員國的任何地方活動，塞浦路斯政府的快錢會給歐盟其余成員國帶來麻煩。塞浦路斯自2013年啟動該計劃以來，已從中獲利70億歐元，相當于該島國年度國內生產總值的四分之一。它已經將簽證賣給了大批富有卻不討喜的人，這些人現在可以自由在德國或法國定居。
Banning such sales would be popular. But it is no simple matter. Deciding who is and is not a citizen is a jealously guarded right of EU member states. All EU countries issue passports for reasons beyond the bog-standard naturalisation of those who marry a local or live in the country in question long enough to qualify. Some countries hand them out to curry favour with diasporas, atone for historic wrongs or create new voters. Being an EU citizen may come with common rights. But there is stark disagreement among the member states as to who should be allowed to be one.
人們可能會很歡迎禁止此類護照售賣。但這并不是一件簡單的事。決定誰是公民，誰不是公民，這是歐盟成員國小心翼翼維護的一項權利。所有的歐盟國家向公民簽發護照的理由都會超過一般的入籍標準，公民在與當地人結婚或在有關國家居住時間足夠長才能獲得入籍資格。一些國家簽發護照是為討好海外僑民，彌補歷史上的錯誤，或者創造新的選民。成為歐盟公民同時會獲得共同權利。但是成員國之間對于誰應該獲得護照存在著明顯的分歧。
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