THE EU is only going to become more relevant for the independence​ movement over the rest of this decade. We ignore it to our detriment.

Much of the oxygen over the past few weeks in the media has understandably revolved around the UK General Election. I gave my thoughts about what happened and where the SNP goes from here in my column last week. Amid all the noise though, it is perhaps forgotten that the EU is processing the ramifications of its election results from the start of June.

This week marked the start of the new mandate for MEPs elected in last month’s elections. As I wrote previously, although this will be a more right-leaning European Parliament, the political centre ground still held. As such, it is in the political centre where deals will be made.

We’ve seen some evidence of this already with the various political groupings that the MEPs have coagulated into. There are eight such groups composed of members from all 27 of the EU’s member states: the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the liberal Renew group, the Greens/European Free Alliance (where the SNP sat when had representatives in the European Parliament) and the Left group.

MEPs ranging from the right to the far-right are split between three groups: the European Conservatives and Reformists (such as Italian prime minister Georgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party); the new Patriots for Europe group (including far-right figures from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and Viktor Orban’s Fidesz); and the also newly-established Europe of Sovereign Nations group, largely led by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

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The Patriots for Europe may be the third-largest grouping with 83 MEPs, but the EPP, S&D, Renew and the Greens/EFA have among them 454 MEPS, well over half of the 718 MEPs that were elected.We’ll see evidence of how this might translate into political power over the course of this week where MEPs will vote on membership offices.

At the time of writing, Roberta Metsola had just been re-elected as president of the European Parliament while voting will take place tomorrow as to who will be president of the European Commission, the executive wing of the EU.

Although it might be close, it does look likely that Dr Ursula von der Leyen will be re-elected for a second five-year term. The decisions made this week then who is elected to whichever position will therefore shape not only the trajectory of the EU but also how the EU interacts with its neighbours and the rest of the world, including us in Scotland as well as Keir Starmer’s UK Government.

It certainly faces a challenging set of circumstances. The war in Ukraine is continuing, the consequences of which will have implications for our own security. The EU remains committed to helping Ukraine win this war, but the challenges will further increase if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election later this year. Regardless of the result in the US, Europe will have to be increasingly more self-reliant as the US continues pivoting towards the challenge of China in the Indo-Pacific and a potential flashpoint in Taiwan.

That’s not to mention the ongoing crisis in Israel and Palestine, the bitter polarisation that’s grown in liberal democracies, the necessity for a green just transition or the impact of climate change as a threat multiplier where dwindling resources lead to conflict and displacement of large numbers of people.

No doubt as well there will be some other black swan event that few predicted, bringing its own unique challenges. Yet in an uncertain world, what the EU offers its citizens and member states is stability, security and prosperity.

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Take Ireland for example, where just a few days ago the European Commission disbursed €324 million under its Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF was set up by the EU to help member states rebuild and recover after the Covid pandemic, and those funds cover a range of areas for Ireland such as promoting digital transition, increasing the supply of social and affordable housing and strengthening anti-money laundering regulations.

Confirmation was also received in June that 40 schools across five counties in Ireland have been shortlisted for €81m of funds for retrofitting, itself part of a wider package of €240m from the REPowerEU programme, which is the EU’s own plan for rapidly reducing dependence on Russian fossil fuels, boost the independence and security of the union’s energy supply and accelerate the green transition.

That’s what Ireland has got as part of the EU and why independence in Europe remains the ultimate prize for Scotland. Being part of a global A-Team which encourages co-operation with friends and allies across our shared continent is where Scotland’s best future lies. It’s up to all of us to help deliver it.