Sorry, Nicola! Spain blocks Scotland’s bid to stay in EU
NICOLA Sturgeon’s bid to keep Scotland in the Eu was last night flatly rejected by European leaders.
The Scottish First Minister went to Brussels in an attempt to grandstand on the European stage, but her plan was immediately vetoed by Spain.
Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, said: ‘If the united Kingdom leaves ... Scotland leaves.’
his concerns over Scotland stem from the Spanish region of Catalonia, which also has a powerful pro-independence movement. But French president Francois hollande also insisted the Eu will make no advance deal with Miss Sturgeon. ‘The negotiations will be conducted with the united Kingdom, not with a part of the united Kingdom,’ he said.
The german government said Scotland’s status in the Eu was an ‘internal’ British issue, while Denmark said its minister for foreign affairs ‘will not intervene in the internal UK discussions’.
Czech leaders said it was ‘premature to address the question of an independent Scotland and its relation to the Eu’.
The warnings raise the likelihood that breaking away from Britain will be the only way Scotland can remain in the Eu.
‘Everyone is against it’
however, it is likely that its membership would have to start from scratch.
That would mean losing all the uK’s hard-fought concessions over the euro, no-passport zone and budget rebate – and joining the queue for accession.
In Westminster, Prime Minister David Cameron warned the SNP that ‘the best way we can secure Scotland into the single market is for the united Kingdom to negotiate as one’.
Miss Sturgeon flew to Brussels yesterday in the hope of shoring up European support, but she was snubbed by the Eu’s most powerful official, European Council president Donald Tusk.
She did secure a meeting with European Parliament president Martin Schulz, who is the equivalent of the Commons Speaker, and controversial Eurocrat Jean-Claude Juncker found space in his diary for her at the last minute.
Mr Juncker, president of the European Commission, has been open with his disdain for the uK, which observers claimed was behind his willingness to meet Miss Sturgeon. his decision was met with glee by the Scottish Nationalists, but their joy turned to dismay when Mr Rajoy spoke at a press conference in Brussels to mark the conclusion of this week’s European Council summit.
‘I want to be very clear, Scotland does not have the competence to negotiate with the European union,’ he said. ‘Spain opposes any negotiation by anyone other than the government of the uK.’
Mr Rajoy, whose centre-right People’s Party won the most seats in this week’s Spanish elections, added: ‘I am extremely against it, the treaties are extremely against it and I believe everyone is extremely against it. If the united Kingdom leaves ... Scotland leaves.’
The First Minister’s Brussels trip came after MSPs voted to give her a ‘mandate’ to hold discussions with Eu institutions, as well as the uK government and other devolved nations. Miss Sturgeon has said that ‘everything must be on the table to protect Scotland’s place in Europe’ after 62 per cent of Scots voted to stay.
Following her talks, Miss Sturgeon said she had received a ‘sympathetic’ response ‘to the position Scotland finds itself in, facing the prospect of being taken out of the Eu against our will’.
But she played down a lack of concrete progress, saying: ‘I have not been here today to reach any conclusions. I have been here today to make sure Scotland’s voice is being heard and understood. I found doors to be open here today.
‘If there is a way for Scotland to stay in the Eu then I am determined to find it. We are in uncharted territory.’
When asked about Mr Rajoy’s comments, she said: ‘I don’t think it’s particularly surprising at this early stage to hear static positions from people like Spain.’ Ahead of their meeting, Mr Juncker said: ‘Scotland won the right to be heard in Brussels ... but we don’t have the intention to interfere in the British process.’