Unanimous approval for Scotland would be unlikely, says Barroso

Spain could veto EU membership.

It was no accident when José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, told the BBC last weekend that unanimous approval for European Union membership for an independent Scotland would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible”.

An aide to Barroso told European Voice this week that an answer had been prepared to questions on the subject, and Barroso’s spokeswoman said on Monday that his words were “simple and clear”. But she added that the Commission is not preparing an assessment of the Scottish independence scenario, because no member state government has asked it to do so.

Barroso suggested in a television interview that Spain might veto the accession, pointing out that Spain has opposed recognition of Kosovo since it split from Serbia in 2008.

John Swinney, Scotland’s finance minister, described the comments as “pretty preposterous”, underlining that “Scotland has been a member of the EU for 40 years”. The devolved Scottish government, controlled by the Scottish National Party, has repeatedly insisted that if the country obtained independence, it would not have to apply for EU membership, and would become an EU member state within 18 months of a ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum scheduled for September.

With or without Scotland, the place of the United Kingdom itself within the EU remains the subject of hot dispute, and Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, suggested on Monday (17 February) the need for a ‘United States of Europe’ – which would not include the UK. Speaking at Cambridge University, she urged the “strong case for a true fiscal and ultimately political union” among members of the single currency, and she invoked Winston Churchill in support of her argument that the UK would be merely “a close ally with the federated eurozone”.

“The eurozone members must acknowledge the need to find solutions where their interests are different from those of the member states who do not share the single currency,” she said. “Otherwise, they risk pushing the UK out of the EU before it decides of its own accord, as it might, to jump.” While eurozone members’ ultimate goal is to ensure the stability of the euro, she said, “for member states outside the eurozone, their main interest may lie elsewhere – for instance in preserving the single market for all 28 EU countries and their unimpeded access to it.”

The tensions this is likely to create will grow as integration of the eurozone advances, she predicted.

* The worst flooding to hit the United Kingdom in decades has caused an estimated £600 million (€728 million) in damage, and prompted severe criticism of the government’s response. Dissatisfaction could influence the European Parliament election on 22 May, particularly since some of the worst affected areas have traditionally been strongholds of the governing Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition.

A recent poll put support for the opposition Labour party at 35%, ten points ahead of the Conservatives – who were only just ahead of the UK Independence Party, with support from 20% of respondents.

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