14/12/2013
Herman Van Rompuy
has said that if Catalonia became independent from Spain, EU treaties would no longer apply. He was
reacting to the announcement of an independence referendum by the north-eastern Spanish region of Catalonia.
"If a part of the territory of a member state ceases to be a part of that state because that territory becomes a new independent state, treaties will no longer apply to that territory", he says. "In other words, a new independent state would, by the fact of its independence, become a third country with respect to the Union and the treaties would, from the day of its independence, not apply anymore on its territory".
Reacting to the comments, Scottish Labour external affairs spokeswoman Patricia Ferguson, said: "Alex Salmond's position on an independent Scotland's membership of the European Union is no longer tenable. The most senior officials in the European Union are contradicting his assertions yet he just sticks his fingers in his ears and asks people to ignore the facts".
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael, adds to Salmond's pain by declaring, "There is no escaping the fact an independent Scotland would face a difficult journey back into the EU. They simply cannot say there is any certainty over where these negotiations would end up or the amount of time they would take".
All of this though suggests a brilliant idea. Instead of expecting Scotland to hold a referendum on leaving the UK, what we should do is have Scotland stay put while England, Wales and Northern Ireland holds the referendum to leave. That way, we kill two birds with one stone. Scotland stays in the UK and the EU, while we get to leave the EU without having to hold a separate referendum.
There may be a few minor practical details to iron out with this brilliant plan, but think of the money we would save by not having two referendums.
