Brussels, 03/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - Finnish liberal Olli Rehn does not believe that an independent Scotland could join the European Union if it continued to use the pound sterling.
In a letter this week to British treasury director Danny Alexander, quoted in The Guardian, Olli Rehn says: “As to the question of whether 'sterlingisation' were compatible with EU membership, the answer is that this would simply not be possible, since that would obviously imply a situation where the candidate country concerned would not have a monetary authority of its own, and thus no necessary instruments for economic and monetary union.”
A fortnight ahead of the Scottish referendum, the latest polls suggest the gap between opponents and defenders of an independent Scotland is narrowing (see EUROPE 11143). (MB)