As it is topical, my first ever blog is about Scotland being Independent and in the European Union.
Ok I don`t doubt that at some point a separate Scotland would get to be part of the Eu but at what cost?
If we separate from the UK we would be leaving the UK unilaterally and my belief is that the UK would retain it`s rights and we would have to negotiate terms to join.
First we would have to convince all the other member nations to let us join, since the Council of Ministers must unanimously accept a state`s application, so if one member nation said no then we could not join.
All new nations joining, under the Treaty, have to join the Euro. The UK and Denmark, who have the opt-out, are the exceptions to this.
I would imagine that others who have had to join the Euro, or will when their state conditions are right, would not allow us to have membership terms different from their own.
The UK also has three other opt outs that we would not necessarily have.
My next problem with the separate Scottish state being in the Eu is we would not have any part of the UK rebate can you imagine countries who are desperate for the UK to give up it`s rebate saying ok just let Scotland keep its share of the UK rebate.
Alex Salmond said we would, as a separate country, have a place at the top table but at present we as part of the UK have 73 Eu parliamentary members and 29 votes in the Council of Ministers .
As an independent Scotland we would only have around 11 or 12 Eu parliamentary members and at the Council of Ministers we would only have 7 votes
The UK would still have their 73 MEPs and their 28 / 29 votes in the Council of Ministers
Our voting strength would be about the equivalent of Eire, Croatia or Lithuania less than Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania et al.
On this basis whilst we will be at the top table, albeit there is only one table, we will have a pretty lowly position on it.
Of course there is so much more to becoming a full member of the European union but if my understanding is correct then the above, alone, would influence me to vote NO.
