德国公路

　　Charging the neighbours

　　向邻居收费

　　Bavaria is getting Germany to make foreigners pay for driving on its roads

　　巴伐利亚正努力促使德国向使用本国公路的外国人收取费用。

　　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.

　　每当开车去奥地利的时候都要交通行费，而外国人在德国公路上行驶啥都不交。巴伐利亚人提到这事就抓狂，忍了很久了。去年基督教社会联盟（CSU）—这个党只存在于巴伐利亚州但它是Angela Merke所领导的基督教民主联盟的伙伴—宣称要“塞上这个公平的缺口”。默克尔觉得这项提议很荒唐，而且违反欧盟法令。不过CSU却把这条当作加入联合政府的一样条件。

　　德国公路.jpg

　　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日的时候，Alexander Dobrindt，这位德国交通运输部部长和CSU正在崛起的天才，目前揭示了一项计划，用以打破紧箍咒。首先，新法令规定必须向在德国公路上行驶的外国驾驶员收费；不过其次对于德国驾驶员而言，并不收取额外的费用；而第三点是遵循欧盟法令而言的，禁止对他过欧盟公民的歧视。

　　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 承诺2016年1月开始，只要在德国公路上开车，就对所有人收费，无论是外国人还是德国人。驾驶员将有三种选择：10天的过路许可证为10欧（13.60美元），两个月的过路许可为20欧，或者选择一个年许可证。对于第三项选择，所有德国驾驶员不用理会而外国人也可以通过网上渠道办理，平均费用为88欧，但具体花费要根据车型和排放量而定。

　　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.

　　为了保证总体上德国人不必为过路费问题而花钱，Dobrindt同时想改革德国的交通税。在德国登记注册测量的车主将享受新的免税政策，其所免额度相当于他们办理新的年度许可证所花费的费用。

　　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.

　　荷兰和奥地利威胁德国人，如果这项法令得以通过，就将德国告至欧盟法院。欧盟交通运输委员会委员Siim Kallas目前为止并未“明确提出行还是不行”。德国反对党嘲笑这个想法，认为这是官僚式的矫揉造作。即便是联合政府的同盟们也睁大眼睛对着这项法案滴溜查看。不过和之前一样，巴伐利亚人必须忍耐，保持淡定。