作者:金杜律师事务所 King & Wood Mallesons

There is an argument that if Brexit were to happen, it is likely that the UK would remain part of Europe’s integrated gas and electricity markets, in the same way as Norway or Switzerland, using one mechanism or another.

有观点认为,即便英国退欧,英国很可能会像挪威或瑞士那样,用这个或那个机制,留在欧洲统一的电力市场之内。

However, it is important to note that both Norway and Switzerland contribute substantial amounts to the EU budget.

但值得注意的是,挪威和瑞士对欧盟预算的贡献都很大。

One risk of Brexit would be a potential reduced emphasis on renewables by the UK. This is because whilst the UK does have legally binding targets for cutting down emissions in its climate change act, without Europe’s renewables targets in place, the UK could argue that it wants to cut down those emissions using gas fired technology for example. Certain coal fire power stations are due to shut down in various member states due to new regulation. Upon Brexit, the UK Government could argue that because coal is very cheap at the moment it no longer wants to shut down those coal fire power stations and also remove the need for clean coal technology from the new power stations to be built.

退欧存在一个风险,那就是英国可能不像原来那样重视可再生能源。这是因为,尽管英国在气候变化法中制定了具有法律约束力的减排目标,如果不再受欧洲可再生能源目标的约束,英国可能会主张利用燃气技术来减排。根据最新欧盟法规,许多欧盟成员国将关闭某些燃煤发电站。退欧之后,英国政府就能提出,由于煤炭非常便宜,英国目前不会关闭燃煤发电站,也不需要在新建的发电站使用清洁煤技术。

Another consequence of Brexit might be the loss of vital sources of funding for the UK, which is available for European projects of importance, for example the European Investment Bank’s Climate Awareness Bond Programme, of which the UK has been the largest beneficiary to date. It is now unclear whether the UK would be eligible for that programme going forwards. There are various other grants available as well for European projects and it is unclear whether the UK would continue to qualify for those.

另一方面,退欧也可能使英国失去重要的资金来源。欧洲的重要项目有着丰富的资金来源,比如欧洲投资银行的气候意识债券计划,英国迄今为止一直是这个项目的最大受益者。英国以后是否还有资格参与这个项目,目前不清楚。此外,欧洲项目还享有多个其他资金来源,英国是否还有资格获得这些资金,目前也不清楚。

Clearly this could add up to billions of pounds worth of funding and the loss would be very adverse to the UK, both in terms of the investment out of the UK by UK companies but also within the UK as well.

很显然,损失这些价值近几十亿英镑的资金,对英国公司的境内外投资都非常不利的。

In particular, the UK is very dependent on energy imports; a common European policy helps us negotiate better deals with the rest of the world and to pool our combined resources efficiently.

尤其是,英国非常依赖能源进口;统一的欧洲政策有利于我们与世界其他国家和地区谈判和达成更好的交易,并有效地整合利用我们的资源。