No Law That Independent Catalonia Should Leave EU

Vice-President of the European Commission Viviane Reding has stated there is no law that says Catalonia should leave the EU if it became independent, undermining Unionist scaremongering that Scotland would have to re-apply for EU membership if we vote for independence in the 2014 referendum.

The comments in a Spanish newspaper are embarrassing timing for the Tory-led anti-independence campaign, with Lord Wallace today again trying to sow uncertainty about Scottish EU membership, despite the absence of any treaty provision in the EU to remove Scotland from the EU.

Commenting, SNP Roderick Campbell – who sits on the European and External Relations Committee - said:

“Viviane Reding’s comments in relation to Catalonia are an important confirmation of the fact that there is simply no provision for an independent Scotland to be removed from the EU.

“Scotland is part of the territory of the European Union and the people of Scotland are citizens of the EU - there is no procedure for either of these circumstances to change upon independence, and the rest of the UK will be exactly the same position. We will both be successor states, with exactly the same status within the EU, and we will both continue to use the pound.

“Instead of scaremongering about an independent Scotland, Lord Wallace would be far better trying to explain why he believes it is better for decisions affecting Scotland to be made by a Tory-led government that has been comprehensively rejected by the people of Scotland.”