‘No. Scotland would not have to necessarily use the Euro.’ 

This paper analyses how the UK is currently perceived across the EU. How the future EU-UK relationship is considered in the medium term. And how the UK’s constitutional strains are understood. Trust in the UK has been severely damaged. There is also substantial Brexit fatigue and frustration. There are different views on whether and how fast a stronger relationship could be built in the future. If Scotland chose independence in a legally and constitutionally sound context, then there is broad openness to Scotland having a normal accession path to the EU.

This paper analyses the range of Scotland’s relations with the EU, and the Scottish government’s European strategy. The Scottish government’s European strategy aims to maintain and develop Scotland’s European relations in Brexit environment. And to Focus on issues of common interest, including the climate emergency, wellbeing, innovation and human rights.  For now, Scotland’s European relations are rather positive despite the impact of Brexit.

This article looks at myths about Scottish independence.

MYTH 7: Nationalism is by its very nature a bad thing

MYTH 8: An independent Scotland would be last in the queue to join the EU

Myth 9: You can’t hold a referendum without Westminster’s “permission”

Myth 10: Independence for Scotland would abandon the rest of the UK to permanent Tory rule

Scottish independence is a constitutional project, not an economic one. Fixing who governs you takes precedence over an easy life for supermarkets or civil servants. Brexit has shown that a committed government, with the mandate of a referendum and an appetite for dislocation, can go a long way.

Independence, then, might be inevitable, but it has to be contemplated with some sense of reality. The reality of Brexit in front of our eyes. Scotland’s freedom from unending Tory rule from London may well be unavoidable. The constitutional position is simply unsustainable. It is intolerable to most of the Scottish people. Can they face another five, 10, 15 years of English Tory rule, even with devolution? Probably not, and they might hope for the best from “global Scotland” as it seizes unnamed exciting new opportunities.

An independent Scotland within the EU would be part of the EU’s single market: England and Wales would be outside.  The border checks may be quite significant. Ireland's experience shows it is clearly possible for a small country to succeed economically in a similar situation to that which would confront an independent Scotland within the EU and establishing a new border.

There are indications that the EU would welcome an application from an independent Scotland. Full membership of the EU may take up to a decade to complete. As a new member state, Scotland would probably have to take on the normal obligations, which may include the use of the Euro.  A hard border with England would be the consequence of EU membership.  Even a looser relationship, similar to Norway, with the EU would require a customs border with England.

How a border will be handled and its potential economic impacts need some serious analysis from the Scottish Government. The fact that Scotland’s trade with rUK is three times that with the EU means it looks like the short- term economic impact of a harder border would be negative. 

But some of those negative impacts might be at least partially offset by benefits from migration and free movement of people, and by foreign investment. 

The Brexit referendum opened up conflict between executive, parliamentary, national and popular sovereignties in the differing nations of the United Kingdom and had a noticeable effect on British disintegration.

With every passing election, Scotland seems to move closer to independence. Investment Monitor explores the obstacles the country would face should it leave the UK.

, we have drawn together leading experts to examine the key issues, opportunities and challenges surrounding the prospect of independence. Much has changed since the 2014 referendum – most notably, the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. By providing factual information and impartial analysis, we hope that the book can support citizens to engage in debates and make up their own minds about Scotland’s future.

In his article, Klaus Stolz (Chemnitz) focuses on the Scots’ decision in the Brexit referendum on June 23, 2016. For him, the result is not only representative of the relationship between Scotland and Europe, but also of the relationship between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain. That most Scots want to stay in the EU and thus deviate from the majority of the British is what he regards as part of a bigger domestic political division. Klaus Stolz does not consider Brexit as a cause, but as a possible catalyst for the disintegration of Great Britain.

This  chapter makes use of the lenses of citizenship to explore the interaction between the two dimensions of ‘troubled membership’. It locates legal change in its broader political context and focuses on contested boundaries of polity membership. This explores the content of a possible future Scottish citizenship, and examines the formal legal membership and political citizenship in respect of both the Scottish referendum and the UK’s referendum on EU membership.

This paper discusses Scotland’s relationship with the EU in the context of two different secession events. The first concerns the question of an independent Scotland’s EU membership in the event of Scotland’s secession from the UK. The second discusses the position of Scotland in the context of a UK in-out referendum on EU membership. This chapter concludes that in neither case should Scotland be forced to leave the EU against its will.

This book is the first serious study of the likely road to independence, and the consequences for the Scottish people and the Scottish economy. Scottish Independence starts with a detailed guide to the stages along the route to independence and goes on to analyse the legal, political and economic consequences.It asks key question

At a time when the country's future has topped the agenda in Britain and abroad, this book unpicks the complex weave of Scottish politics, society and culture, providing an essential insight into Scotland's present - and its future.

Both books are essential reading for both believers in Scottish independence and undecided voters who seek answers to their practical questions about the processes required for starting an independent country.