The case of an independent Scotland in the European Union : from a legal perspective

Abstract

The Second World War left the European continent in ruins in all aspects imaginable. The six founding member states got together to pool their resources and proclaim peace as the core principle that binds them. The old system of isolated nation states was losing ground. Instead, a new era of federalism and interconnectedness between states ushered in.

Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) lays out the values of the European Union. Democracy is one of these values and it also lies at the core of the EU. In light of the Brexit referendum, democracy isn’t necessarily being applied. Even though Scotland voted against leaving the EU, the country is being dragged out of the European Union. With a 62% vote, Scotland made its intentions clear that it intends to remain a European country. Since then, Nicola Sturgeon and her government have embarked on a mission to make sure that the democratic will of the Scots is not compromised.

Theresa May and her government are following a hard Brexit route. This implies that all ties with the EU are cut and also means that the whole of the United Kingdom would leave the European Single Market. Nicola made it clear that she will ook at all the options available in order for Scotland to remain a European Nation. One of the options on the table is independence. Independence for continued membership in the European Union.

This dissertation aims to give a concrete analysis and come to the conclusion that Scotland can become an independent. Additionally, this dissertation will also answer the question regarding Scottish membership in the European Union. The Scottish Government stated that Scotland can have continued membership and not start the application process all over again. In this dissertation, this will be analysed in light of the treaty articles of the European Union as well as models that support this statement.

A literary account will be given in order to put the reader in context in the light of the existing theoretical information on the subject. The following chapter is the methodology where the methods adopted to answer the research questions will be mentioned. After, there is the content analysis. The content analysis will be divided in the same way as the literature review. This dissertation focuses on six elements that have been identified as important in order to effectively answer the research questions. These six elements are: devolution, a new Scottish Constitution, the independence referendums, the Brexit referendum and accession to the European Union. Each of these elements will have it’s own chapter and discussion that is relevant to the research questions.

In the devolution section, a historical account and the current devolution set up in Scotland will be. After that, there will be a discussion on a Scottish constitution. The referendums will also be discussed. Lastly, to end this dissertation, there will be a discussion on EU law and Scotland’s chances of accession to the EU.