Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands Conservative MSP, today criticised the SNP government for its repeated assertions and assumptions that a separate Scotland would automatically be a member of the EU.
Jamie was speaking in today’s Parliamentary debate on Scotland’s voice in the EU, during which he referred to evidence gathered on the subject by the Parliament’s European & External Affairs Committee, of which he is a member.
Speaking in the debate, Jamie said:
“From the many experienced, influential, and key experts who have given evidence to the Committee, it is clear that there is no automatic right that an independent Scotland would be admitted to the EU. I think of the contributions made by leading academics such as Kenneth Armstrong, Professor of Law at Cambridge University, who said that Article 48, the so-called fast-track means by which an amendment to the treaties would be sufficient for membership, would be "...legally implausible and incredibly politically risky”. Professor Armstrong went on to say that Article 48 is "...a way of renegotiating the treaties between existing member states, and not with some other non-member state”.
“The Conservative amendment rightly highlights the benefits associated with EU membership of Scotland by being part of the UK, including staying out of the Euro, securing the UK rebate, and remaining outside of the Schengen border zone. What guarantees are there that they won't be lost by pursuing independence?
“Specifically, on the rebate, the respected think-tank New Direction has calculated that, if it fails to renegotiate the terms of its membership, Scotland will lose out financially. The UK rebate, negotiated originally in 1984, is worth some £295 million to Scotland every year”.