SCOTLAND would be an asset to the EU if was to become an independent country in the wake of a vote to leave, according to the SNP’s Europe spokesperson.
Stephen Gethins was making the claim in the wake of evidence from a leading authority on European policy suggesting Westminster would be forced to lobby friendly EU countries for influence in Brussels, including an independent Scotland.
Graham Avery, a senior adviser at the European Policy Centre, who worked at the European Commission between 1973 and 2006, told the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that the UK would have to “step up our bilateral efforts” when it came to how British foreign policy was conducted.
This, Avery said, would involve lobbying Dublin and Edinburgh if Scotland was an independent member of the EU.
Gethins, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Avery’s evidence showed that the best result for Scotland and the UK was a vote to remain part of the European Union. However, if Scotland was to be an independent member state, it “would be an asset to the European Union and broader international community working in co-operation with other member states in areas such as climate change, security challenges and dealing with the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War”, Gethins claimed.
A spokesman for Scotland Stronger In Europe said: "The interests of Scotland and the rest of the UK are best served by a vote to stay in the European Union on June 23 – that is what our positive and non-party campaign is working hard to help deliver.”
Leave.EU spokesman Jack Montgomery said the UK would have a stronger international presence in Brussels and would not need to lobby other EU countries.
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