Economic theory shows that the decision for a region to remain in a country (or a union) or to secede results from a trade-off between the benefits of being part of a large country, and the costs  associated with more heterogeneity. Literature confirms the importance of these trade-offs and shows that decentralization may be effective to accommodate secessionist conflicts only if certain conditions are fulfilled.

The UK is the rare country that acknowledges the possibility of its own division. Great Britain's acquiescence  made Scottish secession possible.  The pathways of Scottish secession have been an insular affair, a function of particularly British law and politics, in which international law played little role. 

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.