Enlightening the Constitutional Debate. Scotland and the EU

7/29/2019 Enlightening the Constitutional Debate. Scotland and the EU

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Royal Society of Edinburgh Press Release 16 March 2013

Enlightening the Constitutional Debate:Scotland and the European Union

The first of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) discussion events, in partnership with the BritishAcademy (BA), on Enlightening the Constitutional Debate took place this week on the 13th March.Over 150 people attended the event.The event was chaired by the journalist Peter Jones and introductory speeches were made byProfessor Neil Walker, Graham Avery and Professor Diana Panke.Neil Walker said that there had been a sense of certainty from both sides of the debate: from theScottish Government that an independent Scotland would automatically be a member of the

European Union; and from the UK Government the assertion that Scotland would need to apply as anew member. In reality he suggested that the question of the membership of an independent Scotlandwould be about politics, rather than legality.He recognised the importance of politics around issues such as currency, budget contribution, and theconcerns of some countries about independence movements within their own borders. He alsorecognised that many questions remained on the table with regard to these and other topics.Graham Avery, who had been involved in over 20 accession negotiations while working for theEuropean Commission, suggested that it was absurd and unlikely that an independent Scotlandwould have to go through the same accession process as a country that had never been a member.He believed that a common sense approach would be adopted, such as the case with thereunification of East and West Germany, where East Germans became EU citizens without a lengthy

accession process. He recognised though that there would need to be treaty amendments to takeaccount of Scotland as an independent state.He did not believe Scotland would be obliged to join the Euro. Some issues such as fisheries andbudgetary contributions could be subject to difficult negotiations.Diana Panke spoke from her own research experience of the influence of small states on EU policy.She indicated that in her research it was not always the case that the size of a country was the mostimportant determinant of success in negotiations. Often it was which countries adopted the mosteffective strategies and built alliances.Many small countries can be influential. The limiting factor is not necessarily the representation inBrussels, but the capacity of home based Ministries to develop negotiating positions across the whole

range of policy areas. This leads to the smaller nations becoming more focussed on policy areaswhere they have the resources to hand to make an impact.The question and answer session then ranged widely over a number of topics, including: the processof treaty changes; Scotlands treaty obligations; the Euro; the implications if the rest of the UK choseto leave the EU; and whether the negotiation period envisaged by the Scottish Government isrealistic.The chair Peter Jones also questioned whether it is realistic to expect that the current UK budgetrebate would survive the accession negotiation process for an independent Scotland.

A full video of this event will be available on the RSE website from Tuesday 19 March and a writtenreport will be available by mid April.Further events in Scotland hosted by the RSE will be on: Defence and International Relations; TheReal Economy; Culture & Broadcasting; Borders, Immigration and Citizenship; Science and


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Higher Education; and, Public Services and Welfare. There will also be three smaller policy forumsin London on: Tax and Spending; Monetary Policy; and, Historical, Legal & ConstitutionalIssues. Details of these events will be available on the RSE and BA websites.

-ENDS-

Editors notes:

For more information, please contact Bristow Muldoon at the RSE [email protected], 0131 240 2787 or 07766 915218 or for the London events,Kate Rosser Frost, Press & Communciations Manager at the British Academy [email protected] 020 7969 5263.

In 2012, the Society and the Academy convened a conference on Scotland and the UnitedKingdom to provide a platform for a frank and informed discussion on this topic. Theconference, held over two days in Edinburgh and London, was attended by a range ofacademic and policy experts. The report on the events Scotland and the United Kingdomwas published last September and is a record of the views expressed by the speakers andattendees at those events. It does not represent an established position of either the BA orthe RSE.

The BA and the RSE are both independent organisations with no party-political agenda orpositions. We believe that it is important that the series of events is drawn to the attention ofall of the major political parties and the two main campaign groups that have been establishedto contest the referendum. As such the Presidents of the BA and the RSE have written jointlyto leading figures on both sides of the debate.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh, established by Royal Charter in 1783, is the NationalAcademy of Scotland. It has a multi-disciplinary Fellowship of over 1500 and is dedicated tothe Advancement of Useful Knowledge. It runs a wide range of programmes including policyadvice, events, educational outreach and also awards Enterprise and Research Fellowships.Further information about the Society can be found atwww.royalsoced.org.uk.

The British Academy, established by Royal Charter in 1902, champions and supports the humanitiesand social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally. Its Policy Centre oversees a programmeof activity aimed at stimulating dialogue and engagement between leading researchers,parliamentarians and policymakers in the UK and abroad. It aims to shed light on matters of publicinterest and concern, drawing on insights derived from the best available research in the humanitiesand social sciences.www.britac.ac.uk.

Follow the British Academy on @britac_news
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