On Wednesday, 24 April, Nicola Sturgeon, the Prime Minister of Scotland (Scottish National Party - SNP), announced to the Scottish Parliament that she would like to hold a new referendum on independence before the next elections to the Scottish parliament in 2021.
“A choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland as an independent European nation should be offered in the lifetime of this parliament”, said the Prime Minister, who was making her first speech to the Scottish Parliament since the six-month extension was granted to the United Kingdom to allow it to find a way of resolving Brexit (see EUROPE 12233/1).
She announced that the Scottish Government would be introducing a framework law in the near future to set out the rules and principles for an independence referendum, which she hopes will be passed by the end of the year. Organisation of the referendum will, however, require approval from London. Wishful thinking, according to the British press, as the central government is totally opposed to the prospect of a new referendum on the issue.
The United Kingdom and the European Union held their breath in September 2014 during the referendum on Scotland’s independence from the United Kingdom, which resulted in a 55.3% vote in favour of maintaining the Union (see EUROPE 11159/21). The vote in favour of the Union, the outcome of which was uncertain right up to the last minute, took place a long time before the vote for Brexit, which the vast majority of Scots are resolutely opposed to. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)