• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Scotland - EU Relations

Scotland’s natural position is as an active participant in the EU, which provides unparalleled access to a market of over 500 million people. An independent government, acting to protect Scotland’s national interests within the EU, can restore some of the ground lost in recent decades when key Scottish industries had not been a priority for Westminster in EU negotiations.

The EU has considerable influence over Scotland’s economic and social welfare, from the single market to its common policies on a wide range of social and cultural matters. Independent membership of the EU would ensure that the Scottish Government is able, for the first time, to participate at every level in the EU legislative and policy process. With independence the Scottish Parliament would have an enhanced role in EU issues, holding the Scottish Government to account for positions taken in the EU, and ratifying reforms to the EU treaties.

Strategic priorities for an independent Scotland in the EU are likely to include: completing the internal market, especially an EU-wide single market for services; maximising the opportunities for Scottish firms within the priority actions identified by the Commission to stimulate growth; collective action on major societal challenges such as energy security, climate change, healthy and active ageing, sustainable growth, improved public health and reducing societal inequalities; co-operation on Justice and Home Affairs to tackle organised crime and terrorism; and helping Scottish citizens to live and work in other member states, and vice versa.

Following a vote for independence the Scottish Government will immediately seek discussions with the Westminster Government, with member states and with the institutions of the EU to agree the process whereby a smooth transition to independent EU membership can take place on the day Scotland becomes an independent country.

This Government will not seek membership of the Schengen area either. Instead, an independent Scotland will remain an integral part of the broader social union of close economic, social and cultural ties across the nations of the UK (including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) and Ireland. An essential part of this social union, and one that will be fully maintained with independence, is the free movement of nationals between Scotland and the rest of the UK and Ireland. Europeans closely followed the run-up to Scotland's 18 September 2014 independence referendum with a mix of wariness and hope. Some European capitals feared a 'yes' vote may lead to demands for greater regional autonomy back home. There is also the question of whether an independent Scotland can join the European Union. Whether an independent Scotland will actually be able to join the EU is unclear. Pro-independence campaigners wanted Scotland to remain in the 28-member block. But joining will not be automatic - and the biggest decider might be Britain.

The independence referendum of 2014 was the most transformative political moment in Scotland in 300 years. It marked the beginning of the end of the Union of 1707, the consolidation of a distinct Scottish political culture, the end of Labour's political dominance of Scotland.

The Scots favored remaining in the EU in overwhelming numbers — support skyrocketed in the run-up to the June 2016 referendum, from an average 64 percent in favor of staying in the European bloc to 76 per cent, according to a poll taken last week for Scotland’s Daily Record newspaper. Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish nationalist leader and Scotland's First Minister, warned in May 2016 that demand for a second independence referendum would be “unstoppable,” if the Scots are taken out of the EU against their will.

On 24 June 2016, the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) called it "democratically unacceptable" that Scotland, which had voted 62-38 to remain, would now be dragged out of the European Union. Scotland's cabinet discussed the situation on Saturday, and Sturgeon said she would hold a summit with EU representatives based in Scotland within the next two weeks. The first minister is also scheduled to make a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday. This was a bold move for Sturgeon, a naturally cautious politician, more in line with the style of her predecessor, Alex Salmond, who less than two years earlier and in the same venue had resigned the day after losing a referendum on Scotland's independence. That vote was supposed to be a "once in a generation" opportunity - now it seems that Scots could be back in the polling stations as early as 2018.

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has said her semi-autonomous administration would seek "immediate discussions" with EU nations and institutions to ensure that Scotland could remain in the bloc despite the UK-wide vote to leave. "(We will) explore possible options to protect Scotland's place in the EU," she said after meeting with her Cabinet in Edinburgh on Saturday morning. She added that a new referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was "very much on the table."

"Cabinet agreed that we will seek to enter into immediate discussions with the EU institutions and other EU member states to explore all possible options to protect Scotland's place in the EU," Sturgeon reported after the meeting. She added: "Over the next few days I will establish an advisory panel comprising a range of experts who can advise me and the Scottish Government on a number of important matters: legal, financial and diplomatic."

A white paper making a fresh case for independence could be published in the spring of 2017, with a referendum to follow in 2018.

The prospects of another referendum was not universally welcomed. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said she shared Sturgeon's disappointment with the Brexit result - but disagreed with sending Scots back to the polls. "I do not believe that a second independence referendum will help us achieve that stability, nor that it is in the best interests of the people of Scotland," said Davidson, who had campaigned vigorously for a "Remain" vote. "I believe in Scotland's place within the United Kingdom today as much as ever," Davidson said.

The SNP hoped that Scots who had voted "No" in the first referendum can be convinced to vote for independence this time around. The Better Together coalition that won in 2014 is substantially weaker, and polling suggests that the Brexit vote would make some Scots more likely to leave the United Kingdom. There were signs that some who voted "No" the first time around would now favor independence in the wake of the Brexit referendum. In 2014, Labour, the once dominant force in Scottish politics, was the leading unionist voice. Former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish said he was "very, very attracted" to the idea of leaving the UK in the wake of Thursday's result. The author JK Rowling has also suggested that she might rethink her position.

There could be legal obstacles to a second referendum, too. The union between England and Scotland is a matter reserved to Westminster under the 1998 Scotland Act, which created the devolved parliament in Edinburgh. The 2014 referendum was held under a temporary license that has since expired. "Arguably it is not within the Scottish Parliament's legislative competency to call another independence referendum," said Andrew Tickell, a constitutional lawyer at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Should the government in London attempt to stand in Scotland's way, that could help further make the case for independence. Even more damaging to Scotland's three-century union with England is the prospect of a new right-wing government in Westminster with almost no support north of the border. A Boris Johnson government would annoy Scots even more than Brexit.

The SNP had long adopted a "gradualist" strategy for independence, slowly building electoral support while increasing the powers available to the devolved parliament in Edinburgh. Another referendum was highly unlikely until the nationalists believe they can win. Sturgeon said that only a "material change" in Scotland's constitutional position - such as the UK voting to leave the European Union in a referendum slated to take place before the end of 2017 - could trigger a referendum in the short term, has steadfastly refused to rule out a second vote.

The Scottish Government, supported by the overwhelming majority of Members of the Scottish Parliament, believes that membership of the EU is in the best interests of Scotland. It is the SNP's policy, therefore, that an independent Scotland will continue as a member of the EU. Following a vote for independence, the Scottish Government will immediately seek discussions with the Westminster Government and with the member states and institutions of the EU to agree the process whereby a smooth transition to full EU membership can take place on the day Scotland becomes an independent country.

An independent Scotland will approach EU membership negotiations on the basis of the principle of continuity of effect. That means that Scotland’s transition to independent membership will be based on the EU Treaty obligations and provisions that currently apply to Scotland under our present status as part of the UK. It will avoid disruption to Scotland’s current fully integrated standing within the legal, economic, institutional, political and social framework of the EU. While the Scottish Government recognises the political and economic objectives of the Eurozone, an independent Scotland will not seek membership. Scotland’s participation in the Sterling Area will not conflict with wider obligations under the EU Treaties.

Nor will it seek membership of the Schengen area. Instead, an independent Scotland will remain part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) with the rest of the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The CTA, which dates back to the early 1920s, is part of the broader “social union” that is the expression of the close economic, social and cultural ties across the nations of these islands.