Brussels slapdown for SNP over bid to stay in EU
NICOLA Sturgeon’s case for a second independence referendum was in tatters last night after a top European official confirmed Scotland would be forced to join the queue for EU membership.
The First Minister has threatened a second attempt to break up the Union in an effort to keep Scotland in the EU following last year’s Brexit vote.
Jacqueline Minor, the European Commission’s head of representation in the UK, revealed that an independent Scotland would have to leave the EU then join the queue for membership alongside Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia.
She also claimed it would be at least 2020 before any new states were considered for membership – and Scotland would have to pledge to sign up to the euro and tackle its deficit before being considered.
She said there was ‘no precedent’ for a separate Brexit deal for Scotland.
During the 2014 independence referendum campaign, former First Minister Alex Salmond repeatedly argued that an independent Scotland would be able to remain within the EU by using Article 48 of the Treaties of the European Union – which could allow for alterations to membership without Scotland leaving.
And Miss Sturgeon has
claimed that if Scotland were to become independent before the UK quits the EU it would be entitled to automatic continued membership.
But Mrs Minor said: ‘It certainly was not the position of the Commission during the independence referendum.’
She said that Scotland would instead be forced to apply as a new member to the EU using Article 49 – joining the queue with those already waiting.
Mrs Minor added: ‘Even before the referendum, President of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker had said there would be no further enlargement during his term of office, so that takes you to 2020.
‘There are a number of official candidates – Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina – but they are still quite some way away from meeting criteria for membership.
‘If Scotland were to become independent (it) would join that list. If Scotland became independent, Article 49 is the normal starting point.’
She said it might be easier for Scotland than other countries to meet membership criteria such as democracy, rule of law, and anti-corruption, adding: ‘That might enable (it) to move faster than others.’
But Mrs Minor claimed that the ‘position in Scotland hasn’t changed’ since the last attempt to break up the Union.
She said that as with other new member states, the country would have to commit to ‘eventual membership of the euro’ because an opt-out similar to deals with the UK and Denmark would not be an
‘Using Brexit to agitate for separation’
option. Mrs Minor, who leaves her post at the end of the month, added: ‘I think normal practice for a new member state would be to make that commitment to becoming a member of the euro but there would possibly be quite a lengthy period of transition to that status.’
According to Mrs Minor, Scotland would be forced to tackle its deficit. The EU insists that this should not exceed 3 per cent of a new country’s GDP. Scotland’s stands at 9 per cent – almost double that of the UK deficit.
She added: ‘The rules state that all members are committed to reducing the deficit. It (Scotland) would have to come forward with plans as to how it is going to reduce its deficit.’
She also poured cold water on the SNP’s push for a separate Scottish deal when leaving the EU.
Speaking at a Scottish Parliamentary Journalists’ Association event, Mrs Minor said: ‘The negotiations will be with the United Kingdom and that means essentially the Westminster Government.
‘The first question is will the Westminster Government argue in favour of a differentiated arrangement, and it seems to me that at present they are not suggesting that they will. Should they do so, should they change their mind, then the other members states would have to look at that.
‘I have to say that there is no precedent whereby a free trade agreement has distinguished between significant regions of the partner country.’
Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins said that Mrs Minor’s comments provided clear evidence that the SNP should drop its threat of an independence referendum.
He added: ‘This is a senior figure telling the SNP what it needs to hear. For all its moaning about Brexit, it knows fine well an independent Scotland would not simply step into the European Union.
‘Not only would it join the back of the queue, but we now learn it may have to adopt the euro and tackle an eye-watering deficit.
‘It’s time for the Nationalists to be honest about Brexit and stop using it as a tool to agitate for separation.’
Lewis Macdonald, Scottish Labour’s Europe spokesman, said: ‘This is a hugely significant intervention from an experienced and respected official. As the SNP was repeatedly told during the referendum campaign, an independent Scotland would have to apply to join the EU like any other country.
‘Alex Salmond tried to dismiss this, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Now it’s time for the SNP to be honest with voters – an independent Scotland would have to join the queue.’
An SNP spokesman last night claimed that Labour’s comments on Mrs Minor’s speech were ‘remarkably selective’, adding: ‘She demolished many of the bogus arguments used by the No campaign in 2014 around EU membership.
‘We are focused on protecting Scotland from the catastrophic effects of a hard Tory Brexit which would cost 80,000 jobs in Scotland over the next decade – meanwhile Labour failed to secure a single concession from the Tories on the Article 50 Bill, yet they voted for it anyway. At every level, Labour’s response to the EU referendum has been pathetic.’
THE SNP, desperate to find anything to resurrect its moribund independence campaign, is fighting to maintain the nasty Tories are ripping Scotland from the bosom of the EU.
In Holyrood, the First Minister repeated one of the most outrageous fibs about the EU referendum to back this up. She claimed 62 per cent of Scots voted Remain – not so. A low turnout meant around 58 per cent of the electorate either said Leave or did not vote. And now the EU has plunged a wooden stake into the heart of the undead indy campaign.
Jacqueline Minor, the European Commission’s head of representation in the UK, insists an independent Scotland would need to leave the EU then join the queue for membership alongside Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia.
Oh, and Scotland would need to pledge to sign up to the euro and tackle its enormous deficit (that means massive cuts and huge tax hikes) before being considered for admission.
The independence dream ‘shall never die’ we were told. But it is flat-lining and now even the SNP’s beloved EU is writing ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ on its medical notes.