FLORENCE, August 3 (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst – c
“I do believe that Scotland may be a special case since the referendum on independence is the result of an agreement between the Scottish and British Governments,” Closa, who works at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, said.
“That is different from other cases, such as Catalonia and the Basque country for example, where agreement is lacking,” Closa added.
Closa told RIA Novosti that weariness amongst existing EU members over the growing Euro-sceptic position of the British Government was unlikely to be translated into support for a pro-EU independent Scotland.
“I do not think that other member states may regard Scottish independence as politically advantageous … None wants to really undermine ‘British influence’ by means of [supporting] Scottish independence,” Closa stressed.
“But factors influencing Scottish accession are of different nature. The fact that an eventually independent Scotland is pro-European is a good starting point but by no means is the end of the game.” Closa told RIA Novosti.
Closa added that if an independent Scotland did secure continued membership of the EU there would be moves to ensure other secessionist movements inside Europe did not follow the precedent.
“Even if Scotland gains recognition and becomes a member state you will see other countries will want to foreclose this option for future territories. There is no appetite in the EU for artificially increasing the number of member states,” Closa said.
