Euro ‘would be forced’ on independent Scotland

THE euro will be forced on an independent Scotland whether Scots want it or not, according to the country’s leading constitutional think tank.

Research commissioned by the University of London’s Constitution Unit claims that, contrary to assurances by the SNP, Scotland would be forced to abandon the pound if it wanted to remain within the European Union.

Nats leader John Swinney has pledged that Scotland would remain within the EU after independence and has also offered to hold a referendum on joining the euro, reflecting the bitter split in his party.

But the Constitution Unit’s book Scottish Independence: A Practical Guide claims the policy position is impossible and any referendum would have to be scrapped.

Labour and Conservative MSPs last night welcomed the report, saying it showed that the SNP’s ambitions for creating a separate Scottish state within the EU were unrealistic.

But the SNP said it believed the Constitution Unit had got it wrong.

Jo Murkens, one of the principal authors of the book, which will be publicly debated by Labour and SNP MSPs at a political event this week, argues that new EU member states are required to sign up to the single currency if they are to be admitted by existing members.

Britain has the right to hold a referendum on the euro as a result of John Major’s decision to opt out from European monetary union several years ago.

But, Murkens claims, as a new member of the EU, Scotland would be treated like any other country applying for member status, so a vote for Scottish independence would also mean a vote for Scottish entry to the eurozone.

But Prof Neil McCormack, an SNP MEP and the party’s constitutional affairs spokesman, said: "The established precedent in European law is that once you are a member of the EU, you remain a member until you choose to leave.

"After independence, Scotland will be a successor state of the United Kingdom and as such will automatically remain a part of the Union, along with England.

"We are also a supporter of the European single currency and look forward to joining when the economic conditions are right and with the consent of the Scottish people."

The only precedent for a country becoming independent and then leaving the EU is Greenland, which up until 1995 was part of Denmark and part of the EU. After independence, Greenland was forced to negotiate terms to leave the EU.

However, there was also good news for the Nationalists in the new book, which challenged Labour’s claims that Scotland cannot afford to stand on its own.

Despite Labour claims of a 4bn black hole at the heart of an independent Scotland, the new research is expected to claim that a Scottish exchequer could balance its books or be in surplus when North Sea oil revenues are taken into account.

Last year, Scottish Secretary Helen Liddell claimed that Scotland would still be more than 1.5bn in debt even if it received all the tax revenues from North Sea oil.