Britain could potentially leave the European union as early as next year as Prime Minister David Cameron is allegedly already putting plans in motion to bring forward an in/outreferendum by a year.
英国最早或于明年脱离欧盟。据称，英国首相卡梅伦的脱欧全民公投计划已酝酿一年之久。
If Britons vote to leave the EU, this means the country could technically start severing its ties by the end of 2016.
严格来讲，若是英国投票脱离欧盟，这将意味着英国在2016年底即可正式与欧盟解除关系。
The Conservatives won the May 7 General Election with a 12 seat majority.
英国保守党5月7日以超过半数12席位的优势赢得了大选。
The Tories will have to deliver a referendum by 2017 over whether Britain will stay part of the EU or not, since it was a linchpin pledge during the campaign.
这意味着英国将在2017年前就是否脱欧盟举行全民公投，因为这是保守党在竞选时最为关键的一大承诺。
According to the Guardian newspaper, which cited unnamed government sources, Cameron is keen to move the referendum forward, in order to capitalise on Tory support and to avoid being caught up in the French and German elections in 2017.
据《卫报》援引不具名的政府消息人士说，卡梅伦积极推进全民公投，意在利用保守党的支持并且避免公投受德法2017年选举的影响。
“The mood now is definitely to accelerate the process and give us the option of holding the referendum in 2016,” said one of the Guardian newspaper's sources.
《卫报》消息称，“现在的气氛自是要加速进程，让我们在2016年就公投。”
“We had always said that 2017 was a deadline rather than a fixed date.”
“我们早就说过，2017年是公投的截止年限，不是什么非要在2017年才公投的。”
Another source said, “it was made pretty clear that the European council (the grouping of the EU’s 28 leaders) would not engage seriously until the election result was clear.
另有消息称，“很显然欧盟理事会(由欧盟28位领导人组成)要到选举结果出来才会正式介入。”
"We expect the negotiations to take place in 2015 and 2016 so they finish well ahead of the French presidential elections (in the spring of 2017) and the German federal elections (in September 2017).”
“我们期望2015、2016年间就开始谈判协商，这样可以在法国总统大选(2017年春)和德国联邦选举(2017年9月)还没开始前就早早结束。”
The Conservatives are under pressure to hold an EU referendum amid growing disdain for the 28-member bloc's influence over the UK.
越来越多的人对欧盟28个成员国集团对英国的影响心存鄙薄，故而保守党对发起公投一事仍面临压力。
In an ING analyst note this week, the group highlighted how the latest Eurobarometer public opinion survey shows just 23% of Britons have a “generally positive” view of the EU, with only Greece having a lower rating (22%).
荷兰国际集团一名分析师本周的一份记录中这么写道，集团重点关注了欧洲民调集团最新的公众意见调查，数据显示英国仅23%的人对欧盟持“大体上积极”态度，荷兰满意度更低，仅22%。
Couple this with the fact that 3.8 million people who voted for the UK Independence Party, which is opposed to staying in the union , and the number of Eurosceptics from other political factions and it could be a very real threat to Britain's EU membership.
此外，380万英国民众把票投了反对英国留在欧盟的英国独立党。其他政治派系的反泛欧主义者或将成为英国保持其欧盟成员国身份的真正威胁。
However, although the Tories are pushing through the promise of a referendum, the party is largely against leaving the EU.
然而，尽管保守党在推进公投的进程，保守党还是很反对英国脱离欧盟的。
In January last year, UK Chancellor George Osborne said that the Tories were determined to deliver on the promise of a referendum but they would prefer to stay within the EU and negotiate "a better deal."
去年1月，英国财政大臣乔治·奥斯本表示保守党决意推动公投，但他们实则更愿意英国留在欧盟进行协商“更好的一笔买卖”。
"Our determination is clear: to deliver the reform and then let the people decide," said Osborne in a speech at a Tory party conference on January 14.
“我们的决心明确，实施改革，然后让人民自己做决定，”奥斯本1月14日在保守党会议上如是说。
"It is the status quo which condemns the people of Europe to an ongoing economic crisis and continuing decline.“
”是目前的现状让欧洲人民陷入经济危机和经济持续衰退的 ”。
And so there is a simple choice for Europe: reform or decline.
所以现在对欧洲而言就一个简单的选择,要么改革，要么就走向衰落。
