SCOTLAND
« Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country? »
Par Udo Seiwert-Fauti
Finally
it´s done and dusted. On 15 November 2012 Edinburgh saw both
Scottish and British governments signing the "Agreement between
the United Kingdom government and the Scottish government on a
referendum on independence for Scotland". The most remarkable sentence in this agreement sent a shiffer through
many European countries: "The United Kingdom government and the
Scottish government have agreed to work together to ensure that a
referendum on Scottish Independence
takes place." Finally the question all Scots and EU residents living in Scotland will have to answer had been agreed: "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?" "Yes" or "No" !
Who would have thought this development happening remembering the early morning hours of 12 May 2011 when Britain´s Prime Minister David Cameron appeared on tv promising (!!) he would fight with every fiber of his body to defend the UNITED Kingdom. The (social democratic) Scottish National Party SNP had just won an overall majority in the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament. It had been an unexpected landslide victory transforming former red (Labour), orange (Liberaldemocrats) and a bit dark blue (Conservatives) Scotland into dark yellow, the SNP´s party colour. Overnight Scotland had clearly voted for the SNP´s vision to lead Scotland into Independence, Scotland´s First Minister Alex Salmond announced in his famous Priestfield House speech in Edinburgh, after intensively celebrating his victory ! The joint Edinburgh agreement delivers the foundation that in autumn 2014 Scotland and Europe will see the first ever independence vote in an EU -and Council of Europe member region ( even if Scotland and the UK sees Scotland as nation, under EU law it´s a region like Alsace or Bavaria) wanting to leave this member state to start its life as an independent country . The Edinburgh signing lead to hectic activities behind political scenes in London. Many continental European governments, especially Spain reacted angrily. They urged the British government to cancel this vote: They certainly knew and know the Scotland vote would and will have a direct influence on their own internal political structure. It looks like Scotland will only be the beginning. In Catalonia a majority has just voted to demand their independence vote from the Spanish government. France and again Spain are certainly observing closely and Basque Country reactions. Since many years the Faroe Islands and Greenland are dreaming of leaving Denmark and finally the Belgium, Corsica, Northern Italy (Süd Tirol) question could come up again. Believe it or not even in federalistic Germany a high-ranking member of the Bavarian Conservatives (CSU) published a book stating Bavaria could go it all alone... No doubt Independence from existing political structures and countries is on the plate and will certainly provoke a "future of Europe" discussion . Scotland´s current everyday discussion on independence has produced 2 questions urgently needed to be answered: will a region leaving an existing EU /Council of Europe CoE member state still be an EU and CoE member or does it have to re-apply for membership ? What will happen with the left-behind countries ? In the UK`s case the UNITED Kingdom is an EU and CoE member state. If Scotland leaves would the "rUK", the rest-UK, also have to re-apply ? Take these questions to Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and one will understand the "European importance" of these questions. In Alba, Scotland´s Gaelic name, 2 campaigns have come to life: "Yes" or "Better together" ! Both represent very different movements in Scotland. While the YES campaign headed by a former head of News and Radio of BBC Scotland clearly supports Scotland´s Independence the Better Together campaign chaired by former Chancellor and Edinburgh citizen Alistair Darling unifies Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberaldemocrats and Scottish Conservatives in their fight to keep the United Kingdom together. Their latest scoop: in Edinburgh´s Scotsman newspaper Mr Darling predicted England-based and - living Scots could be foreigners and many Scottish families would be parted if Scotland-based Scots would vote for independence. He also claimed an independent Scotland that kept the pound would later rejoin the UK. Alistair Darling said a currency union after independence would "sooner or later" turn into economic and then political union again. Scotland´s First Minister Alex Salmond has previously argued that Scotland would be part of a "sterling zone" with the rest of Britain after independence. The YES campaign has already reacted . With the little help of the SNP the Yes camp initiated and installed the "Women for Independence" initiative. SNP and Yes campaign are obviously convinced "cherchez la femme" will be of help to convince Scotland´s male inhabitants.
| ÉCOSSE « Êtes-vous d’accord que
l’Écosse soit un pays indépendant?
» Traduit par Giulia Fienga
Enfin c’est décidé et signé. Le 15 Octobre 2012 les Écossais et les Anglais ont signé à Edinburgh un “Accord entre les gouvernements du Royaume-Uni et l’Écosse pour un referendum sur indépendance de l’Écosse". La phrase
plus remarquable de cet accord à envoyé un signal fort aux pays
européens "Le gouvernement du Royaume Uni et le gouvernement Écossais se sont mis d’accord pour travailler ensemble en vue de garantir la tenue d'un référendum sur indépendance de l’Écosse".
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