評論
打印
German roads
德國公路
Charging the neighbours
向鄰居收費
Bavaria is getting Germany to make foreigners pay for driving on its roads
巴伐利亞正努力促使德國向使用本國公路的外國人收取費用。
BAVARIANS have long been cranky about having to pay road tolls every time they drive through Austria, say, whereas foreigners pay nothing to drive on German roads. Last year the Christian Social Union (CSU), a party that exists only in Bavaria but is the partner of Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), campaigned on “plugging this justice gap.” Mrs Merkel found the proposal silly, and against European Union rules. But the CSU made it a condition of joining a coalition government.
每當(dāng)開車去奧地利的時候都要交通行費，而外國人在德國公路上行駛啥都不交。巴伐利亞人提到這事就抓狂，忍了很久了。去年基督教社會聯(lián)盟（CSU）—這個黨只存在于巴伐利亞州但它是Angela Merke所領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的基督教民主聯(lián)盟的伙伴—宣稱要“塞上這個公平的缺口”。默克爾覺得這項提議很荒唐，而且違反歐盟法令。不過CSU卻把這條當(dāng)作加入聯(lián)合政府的一樣條件。
On July 7th Alexander Dobrindt, the transport minister and a rising talent in the CSU, unveiled a plan to square a tricky circle. The new law must charge foreign drivers on German roads; but, second, impose no extra costs on German drivers; and, third, comply with EU law, which forbids discrimination against other EU citizens.
在7月7日的時候，Alexander Dobrindt，這位德國交通運輸部部長和CSU正在崛起的天才，目前揭示了一項計劃，用以打破緊箍咒。首先，新法令規(guī)定必須向在德國公路上行駛的外國駕駛員收費；不過其次對于德國駕駛員而言，并不收取額外的費用；而第三點是遵循歐盟法令而言的，禁止對他過歐盟公民的歧視。
Mr Dobrindt proposes to charge everybody, foreign or German, for driving on any German road from January 2016. Drivers will have three options: a ten-day pass for 10 ($13.60), a two-month one for 20, or an annual one. The third of these, which all German drivers need by default but foreigners may also buy through the internet, would cost 88 on average, but vary with the size and emissions of the car.
Dobrindt 承諾2016年1月開始，只要在德國公路上開車，就對所有人收費，無論是外國人還是德國人。駕駛員將有三種選擇：10天的過路許可證為10歐（13.60美元），兩個月的過路許可為20歐，或者選擇一個年許可證。對于第三項選擇，所有德國駕駛員不用理會而外國人也可以通過網(wǎng)上渠道辦理，平均費用為88歐，但具體花費要根據(jù)車型和排放量而定。
To ensure that Germans will not pay any more overall, Mr Dobrindt simultaneously wants to reform Germany's vehicle tax. Drivers of cars registered in Germany would be given a new tax exemption worth the exact amount of their new annual road-user charge.
為了保證總體上德國人不必為過路費問題而花錢，Dobrindt同時想改革德國的交通稅。在德國登記注冊測量的車主將享受新的免稅政策，其所免額度相當(dāng)于他們辦理新的年度許可證所花費的費用。
The Netherlands and Austria threaten to take Germany to court if the law passes. Siim Kallas, the EU's transport commissioner, has so far given “no green or red light.” German opposition parties ridicule the idea as bureaucratic overkill. Even members of the ruling coalition are rolling their eyes. But as so often before, the Bavarians must be accommodated to keep the peace.
荷蘭和奧地利威脅德國人，如果這項法令得以通過，就將德國告至歐盟法院。歐盟交通運輸委員會委員Siim Kallas目前為止并未“明確提出行還是不行”。德國反對黨嘲笑這個想法，認(rèn)為這是官僚式的矯揉造作。即便是聯(lián)合政府的同盟們也睜大眼睛對著這項法案滴溜查看。不過和之前一樣，巴伐利亞人必須忍耐，保持淡定。
