Professors and advisors say Scotland will get “fast-tracked” EU place
SCOTLAND’S POSITION WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION means it will be fast-tracked to full membership with independence, according to a range of EU experts.
Recent comments by head of the European Commission to the UK, Jacqueline Minor, confirmed that Scotland would be able to “move faster” than other membership processes due to “the fact that all your legislation has to be in alignment with existing European rules”.
The prospect of a fast-tracked membership has since been backed-up by a wide variety of EU experts.
Michael E. Smith, International Relations Professor at the University of Aberdeen, said: “Assuming Scotland would be viewed as just another EU applicant is wrong. Scots have complied with EU law for decades. Fast-track.”
Kirsty Hughes, Associate Fellow, of Friends of Europe in Brussels, added that “Scotland accession talks would be fast” given its political starting point.
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Jon Worth, a campaigner and consultant in Berlin, explained: “Neither option to allow Scotland to join the EU is technically or legally simple, but neither is the process ridiculously complicated either – and it is nowhere near as complex as Brexit is, not least because the process to join the EU is known, while the process to leave is not.
“Also recall that Scotland implements pretty much all of the acquis communautaire already, so were it to have to apply as an independent state it’d be the swiftest accession there has ever been.”
Research director at Common Weal, Craig Daizell, added in an analysis of Scotland meeting current criteria, that “if Scotland can become independent before too many post-Brexit changes happen then it should be a straightforward process of rejoining the EU.”
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While Steve Peers, Professor of EU, Human Rights and World Trade Law at the University of Essex, also confirmed that there is no so-called “queue” for EU membership.
Nicola Sturgeon has said that a fresh independence referendum is “highly likely”, while the Tory Government refuses to compromise over proposals to keep Scotland in the European single market.
Picture courtesy of Giampaolo Squarcina
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