Brussels, 18/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - European Commission President José Manuel Barroso's statement on Sunday 16 February about it being “difficult - if not impossible” for an independent Scotland to be a member of the EU has not escaped the attention of Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond. Indeed, Salmond says that Barroso is bluffing.
As Scotland heads towards a referendum this autumn on its independence from the UK, Salmond says that it is not the place of an outgoing Commission president to make a judgment on Scotland's being a member of the EU. “The European Union will of course respect the democratic vote of Scotland”, Salmond said in an interview on Sky News the day after Barroso's statement. He also said that should Scotland vote yes, independence would be effective from March 2016 and the transition period would be used to ensure Scotland's membership of the EU. The Commission does not, however, want to analyse the possibility at this stage of a re-accession procedure for a new state as a result of a process of independence, as this situation is not yet a reality and there is no specific demand for the Commission to do this from a member state.
The same day, Salmond also gave an update on the issue of the currency that an independent Scotland could adopt, and he reaffirmed his commitment to the pound sterling. He was responding to the statement of UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne that, by turning its back on the UK, Scotland would also be turning its back on the pound.
Both Osborne's statement and that of Cameron are pure bluff in Salmond's view. (MD/transl.fl)