An independent Scotland would immediately seek to rejoin the EU but would retain the British pound, the Scottish government has promised.
In a ‘Building a new Scotland’ policy paper setting out its economic priorities outside the UK on Monday (17 October), Nicola Sturgeon’s nationalist government confirmed that it would prioritise re-joining the EU and would also seek to join the EU’s Schengen free movement area.
However, while an independent Scotland would immediately create a Scottish central bank and debt management office, it would keep the UK currency “until the time is right to move to a Scottish pound,” effectively ruling out the prospect of joining the euro, as is expected of prospective EU members.
Scotland voted to remain in the EU by a two-to-one margin in the 2016 Brexit referendum and Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party has repeatedly argued that it was taken out of the bloc against its will, using Brexit as part of the motivation for pledging to hold a new referendum on independence on 19 October next year.
Should Scotland remain part of the UK it would face “narrowed horizons as a result of Brexit,” said Sturgeon at a press conference on Monday.
“The UK economy is fundamentally on the wrong path and there is no real alternative on offer within the Westminster system,” the Scottish First Minister said.
“The establishment consensus on Brexit – despite the harm it is causing – illustrates that,” she added.
The UK government in Westminster has so far refused to allow a second referendum. Scots voted by a 55-45% margin in favour of staying part of the UK in September 2014.
The UK Supreme Court is currently conducting hearings into whether the Scottish government has the legal powers to press ahead with a referendum without the consent of Westminster, with the Scottish government contending that since a vote would be advisory rather than legally binding, it does not require consent.
Support for independence increased following Brexit but polling numbers over most of the past year suggest a near 50-50 split across public opinion.
With the UK now outside the EU’s single market, Sturgeon’s government has stated that physical border checks would be introduced on goods on the two main road routes between England and Scotland, along with similar measures at rail freight terminals, though passport-free movement would remain for travel between Scotland and the rest of the UK and Ireland.
The economic case for Scottish independence was one of the most hotly disputed issues during the 2014 referendum in part because of the lack of clarity over how the overall UK debt, and assets such as North Sea oil, would be divided. Scotland also receives higher levels of public spending than the UK average, owing to its relatively lower economic output.
Elsewhere, the economic blueprint promises up to £20 billion in green infrastructure investment, alongside a revamped and more open migration policy.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
