SCOTLAND

The Scottish Government’s white paper that runs to 670 pages is an insight into what an independent Scotland will look like. The Referendum for Scottish independence will be held in September 2014.

For all the pro-Unionist harping, it could never have been expected that, for all its length, the independence white paper could provide clear, definitive answers on many key issues including the status of our membership of the European Union.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond, like many of us, will be convinced that the EU would wish for a resource abundant independent Scotland to be a member. The assertion that Scotland should continue to be regarded as still being within the EU while negotiations are held on the terms and conditions of our membership as a separate state are pointedly correct, though Unionists will probably play hard and fast with the notion that conviction and assertion are not the same as hard and fast constitutional fact. Yet, the United Kingdom itself has no written constitution.

Mr Salmond’s assertions have also been challenged by comments last week from the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy,  to the effect that, if a ‘region’ opted to leave a member state, it would ‘remain outside the European Union’. It would then, he added, require the agreement of all 28 EU members before it was allowed to join. Scotland, however, is not a mere extension or region of England but a country in its own right. Mr Rajoy has missed the point completely, though he may have been speaking bluntly and loudly enough for Catalan nationalists to hear what he was implying. Whether he speaks with the authority of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) behind him is highly debateable.

Of course, numerous voices have been raised and will continue to be raised in support of the premise that a region choosing to secede from a member state automatically ceases to be part of the EU. Consider the comments made by José Manual Barroso, the president of the European Commission, or Romano Prodi, his predecessor, to the effect that a secessional territory ‘would no longer be a member.’ Or the unequivocal statement, too, from Viviane Reding, commissioner in charge of justice and vice-president of the Commission, who wrote to the Spanish government last year insisting that… ‘Catalonia, if seceded from Spain, could not remain in the European Union as a separate member’.

But, according to Articles 49 and 50 of the TEU, the EU Commission has no say in who ceases to be a member or becomes a member. This is a matter that is entirely left to the European Council and the European Parliament. The First Minister might invoke Article 48 of the TEU which provides for treaty amendment in the event of the council failing to unanimously agree, though any such change would still require agreement ‘by common accord on the part of the representatives of the governments of the member states’. Here, Spain may invoke its right to exercise a veto. None of this immediately precludes Scotland becoming a full EU member, but it is a hurdle Mr Salmond will need to clear if Scotland is to retain full EU membership rights if negotiating after a Yes vote following next September’s referendum on whether Scotland should become an independent country.

Unionists have been knocked down a peg too when it comes to the other thorny issue of a currency union. Bank of England governor Mark Carney says he would welcome the opportunity to hold talks with the Scottish Government. Mr Carney is the only person within the British establishment thus far that has had the decency to admit such dialogue should take place. Other than Pound Sterling being as much Scottish as it is England’s apparent inalienable right to continue using sterling after Scottish independence, Mr Salmond’s government should accept this opportunity with alacrity and get round a table with Mr Carney and officials from the Bank of England.

– The writer seeks an independent Scotland

Get your hands on a copy of Scotland’s Future:

• Read it online at www.scotreferendum.com or download the e-book.