Brussels, 16/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - With the outcome of the Scottish referendum on independence, on Thursday 18 September, anybody's guess, British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned again against a “divorce” within the United Kingdom. A scaremongering stannce, far from the state of mind of MEP Alyn Smith (Greens/EFA, UK), a highly committed member of the Scottish National Party. He told EUROPE what the next stages will be in the event of a victory for the Yes vote on Thursday, with a view to parting company with London in 2016 at the latest (interview with Marie-Pauline Desset).
Agence Europe: In the event of a Yes vote, how do you plan to secure Scotland's remaining in the European Union?
Alyn Smith: We are not presently a member state so we will seek to go through a process where we end up as a member state. But objectively, we are not coming from the outside. We are not a third country; we are part of the acquis communautaire right now: our students are in Erasmus, lots of other countries' students are in Erasmus in Scotland. So it will take a negotiated exit, under Article 50, if we were to leave. In order to stay, we would need to negotiate as well. The big thing for us, and the next big thing I believe for Brussels, is an agreed negotiated constitutional process. We have an agreement from the UK government and the Westminster authorities to respect and implement the outcomes. We are a very good news story about Europe in action.
Such a process would require the approval of the member states, including the United Kingdom and Spain. Are you not concerned that it might be difficult?
Why would it be difficult? That is the question, I think. We have an agreed process with Westminster, with the UK. So within the UK constitution, the attitude of the London government to the Edinburgh government will be instrumental in deciding what the other member states do. We have had absolutely zero indication from anybody that they are going to block this. Even if it is hypothetically possible, I have spoken to nobody anywhere in any country, including the Spanish foreign minister, who has said that it is going to be likely. Absolutely every member state will need to agree, yes.
What about the support among the European Parliament?
We have allies, we have people who are not convinced. Much will be about the terms of continued membership for Scotland, things like the opt-out that we presently have, how we do that, the actual mechanics of how we will decide our share of the UK rebate going forward. And the MEPs will be very interested in the details. That's good, we welcome this degree of involvement.
One of the main concerns during the campaign was the monetary future of an independent Scotland. What are the scenarios foreseen by your party?
Again, this is very much part of the negotiations, but the Scottish people will simply not agree to euro membership. We are also not eligible for euro membership because we have not been part of the Exchange Rate Mechanism for two years, of the monetary union which we would need to be part of for two years before we can even potentially be able to join the euro. These things are not going to be forced overnight. We have plenty of time for a rational discussion about this. Our current position is that we will have the currency union remaining in the sterling zone with the UK and we will be able to find a way to make that work the same way as Belgium and Luxembourg previously in a currency union.
The EU institutions refuse to interfere or comment on the referendum. Do you think they are preparing for the scenario of an independent Scotland?
Obviously, the Commission is looking into this, as is the Council. And we feel very confident that it is in everybody's interest to move this forward as quickly and as smoothly as possible, largely because we are nationalist in the sense that we are independent, but we are the most pro-EU part of the British Isles. The idea that the EU wants to lose us would be a strange view of democracy. So I feel very, very confident.
If ultimately the No wins the referendum on Thursday, what will be your demands of London?
That remains to be seen. We are working towards a yes. We are democrats, we are going to have an energising and positive discussion about where power should lie in an interconnected world. But obviously there must be respect from both sides. So from a Brussels perspective, there is much to like. This is Europe in action, a very good news story about faith in democracy, in community and in the European idea.