Scotland and EU

If all goes according to plan the referendum on Scottish independence will have taken place by this time in 2014. If the majority answer to the question “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?” is No then nothing much will have changed except for a few reputations. But a Yes vote would start an interim period of one year in which the administrative and constitutional details of the change would be worked out between Edinburgh and London -- and Brussels -- before the separation takes place. Britain believes that if Scotland goes independent it will automatically cease to be part of the European Union and will have to apply afresh if, as seems likely, it wants to continue membership. The Scottish government claims that the matter is not as straightforward as London thinks and that the European Union has not yet ruled on the matter; in any case, says Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, the negotiations with Brussels would not take place until the interim year following a Yes vote when Scotland would, in effect, still be negotiating from within the UK.

This last point opens up the possibility that what has been considered a key referendum issue -- can independent Scotland automatically retain EU membership -- will not have been resolved by polling day. It is in everybody's interests that the European Commission should clarify the issue as soon as possible.