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During the Brexit debacle, I joked with my Scottish ex-boss that, one day, Scotland will leave the UK, rejoin the EU, and then reabsorb the UK. And then the UK

• donedealomg 4y ago
• curiousgal 4y ago
  Will/Would the EU accept Scotland's membership though? What about the currency? It all seems so complicated
  • hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago
    Currency is one of these aspects that are the least problematic here (many EU countries have their own currencies, and it was the same with the UK). What is more challenging is that becoming an independent country takes time, and if it happens, Scots will have their own challenges. Joining the EU will definitely possible, but I can't imagine it would be a quick process. Whereas if the UK changed their minds and decided to rejoin the EU, you could expect it could happen within 3 years or so.
  • oblio 4y ago
    The EU would for sure accept the membership request. They'd probably accelerate it, even. Before Brexit the only blocker was a unilateral declaration of independence, which will not happen. Scottish independence will most likely be a mutual separation. And after that the Scottish budget will be hammered hard so I imagine they'd definitely want to join the EU ASAP to get help. Access to huge markets for exports, cheaper imports, EU funding for developing regions, etc.
  • Xylakant 4y ago
    It is all complicated, but have you had a look lately how complicated brexit is? So I'd say we're at the point where it's about picking which kinds of complications you prefer.
  • alablasters 4y ago
    WRT currency having Scotland use Euro wouldnt be any different to how Northern Ireland uses Pounds and the Republic uses Euro
  • jpkeisala 4y ago
    It would be very popular move for every EU politician to fast track Scotland to EU. But yes, it would be complicated to separate from UK and become independent. Becoming EU member would not be that complicated.
    • dagw 4y ago
      Spain and France aren't super keen on encouraging the general idea that regions of a country can easily split off and become independent EU member countries.
      • smcl 4y ago
        Spain I understand. But I dunno about France. It's not the Auld Alliance is still a thing, but surely they'd relish an opportunity to give England a black eye.
        • throwawaymanbot 4y ago
        • nazka 4y ago
          Being French I can tell you we really discourage it because we don’t have just one region but several! You have Corsica who wants to be independent, Alsace who wants to be independent or linked to Germany and sometimes Basque linked with the Basque region of Spain. But all that was at its apex years ago now it’s more stable.
          • deleted 4y ago
            [deleted]
          • mcv 4y ago
            There's also French Catalunya, of course.
      • carlmr 4y ago
        But Scotland is already a country.
  • YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
    At the time of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, I remember there being warnings from the EU that rejoining would not be a simple matter of just applying for an independent Scotland. I could try to find some links on that if you like, but the way I remember it is that the EU was against the idea of Scotland going it alone and EU officials actively worked to discourage any ideas that an independent Scottland would be received with open arms. But of course, that was before Brexit and while the UK was still an EU member whose national interests were taken into consideration by other members (because EU). This is not the case now. Still from memory -sorry for that- but when the last UK MEPs were making their parting speeches at the EU Parliament, one Scottish MEP finished his with an impassioned plea to the EU to not forget Scotland. Which I interpreted as a plea to make it easier for Scotland to join the EU if it ever gained independence from the UK.
    • oblio 4y ago
      The EU was against Scotland unilaterally declaring independence from the UK, because you know, Spain/Catalunya, Romania/Szeklerland, Italy/Veneto, Belgium/Flanders,... (the list is endless). But otherwise, Scotland was part of a former EU member, I imagine they would not necessarily use the pound (a Scottish pound would probably be weak), so they'd probably adopt the euro in a short while, there is a ton of cultural affinity with the EU, probably more than for England in some regards, etc. Scotland for sure could get an accelerated membership process if they do decide to become independent. They could even start some of the paperwork or at least contacts before they gain the official independence, I imagine.