EU will ‘allow’ Sturgeon independent Scotland to: ‘This has nothing to do with Catalonia’ | UK | New UK News

The Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Scottish Greens won a total of 72 seats in Holyrood with a record turnout in the Scottish Parliament elections of 63% – 10% higher than the average for an election to the Scottish Parliament. Election victory is a pressing issue for one union – the UK – but it can also pose important questions in the future for another: the EU. The two parties stood on a platform of an independent Scotland joining the bloc.

However, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will have to overcome many obstacles before she can get her membership.

After winning Indyref2, Scotland is expected to apply to join the bloc again under Article 49 of the EU Treaty.

New members can only be allowed into the bloc by a unanimous vote of the existing member states and an independent Scotland would undoubtedly be feathers.

Spain is grappling with demands for secession itself, from Catalonia so many people think it is unlikely to support a newly independent state.

Scotland could be rejected by Brussels because of its current deficit of 7% of GDP, unless it adopts a strict EU austerity program and potentially adopts the euro.

In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, however, Professor Michael Keating dismissed these claims, arguing that the EU would welcome Scotland as “it has nothing to do with Catalonia”.

He said: “There is no reason Scotland could not join.

“If the UK accepted it, then Spain would accept it.

“It makes sense to them because they say: ‘It’s different from Catalonia if Scotland seceded.

“It is in their best interests to say that this is UK business.

“They have a constitution and their constitution says Catalonia cannot leave.

“Scotland is different.

“Unilateral secessions are completely different matters.”

In another interview with Express.co.uk, however, Mar Aguilera Vaqués, professor of constitutional law at the University of Barcelona, ​​argued that if Scotland were to become independent, it would be treated the same as Kosovo by the Spanish government.

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She explained: “We had a football game.

“Spain against Kosovo and there was the biggest scandal.

“On Spanish television, they wrote Kosovo in lowercase because Spain does not recognize its independence.”

Ms Aquilera Vaqués added: “I guess it would be the same for Scotland for sure …

“They don’t want to duplicate what is happening here with Catalonia.”

Catalonia is one of the richest and most productive regions in Spain and has a distinct history stretching back almost 1,000 years.

Its desire for independence dates back decades.

Three years after the failure of his government’s attempt to unilaterally declare independence, Catalonia has somewhat disappeared from international headlines.

However, while its institutions are unlikely to pose serious new threats to Spain’s stability, the political situation in the autonomous region is far from normalized.

Several pro-independence politicians are currently in prison or in exile, violent demonstrations erupt regularly in the streets and the “war of the flags” continues on the balconies of the cities of Catalonia.

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Ahead of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, former Spanish leader Mariano Rajoy told his government he believed an independent Scotland could only apply to join the EU from outside it. ‘organization as a new state, as he warned against regions of Europe embarking on the process of “solo adventures in an uncertain future”.

As Mr Rajoy’s government faced an election in late 2015, before Scotland officially sought to become independent, the Spanish politician’s words were seen as an effective veto on the immediate entry of the country. Scotland in the EU.

Speaking at a joint press conference with former French President Francois Hollande, Mr Rajoy said: “It is very clear to me, as to everyone else in the world, that a country that would get its independence from the EU would remain outside the EU, and it is good that the citizens of Scotland know this and that all European citizens know it. “

Mr Rajoy said that EU treaties “only apply to Member States which have accepted and ratified them, and if part of a Member State separates from the Member State, it converts to one third compared to the EU ”.

He added, “It is the law and this law applies.

“It does not in any way benefit our European regions and our citizens to come up with divisions or solo adventures in an uncertain future where the exit points may seem clear but the destination is unknown.”