BREXIT negotiations have seen both the EU and the UK try everything to gain the upper hand – and one Danish MEP warned Nicola Sturgeon’s bid to join the bloc would be used to “punch” Britain in talks.
Nicola Sturgeon has pushed for a referendum on Scottish independence ever since Leave won the 2016 EU referendum. Scotland already rejected independence in 2014, but the First Minister has argued that Brexit changes things enough to justify Indyref2. If the SNP are to secure their main political objective, Ms Sturgeon and co want to take Scotland into the EU. In the months following the 2016 referendum, Ms Sturgeon launched this bid – and a Danish MEP warned this would be used to hurt the UK’s chances of getting a favourable deal in Brexit negotiations.
[contfnewc]
He said Denmark had only managed to negotiate its array of opt-outs with Brussels on policy areas including home affairs, justice and the euro because its politicians had presented a united front.
The Danish Peoples Party politician said some figures in the European Parliament would respond warmly to Ms Sturgeons report to embarrass the UK Government but “in reality they are not willing to do very much”.
He told the Telegraph in 2016: “It will be used by people who would like to punch Britain for Brexit and who are trying to derail some of the wishes coming from the United Kingdom.
[contfnewc]
“It will aid their arguments. Mostly they will do it to annoy London, they are not doing it to help Scotland.”
He added that the more united the UK is “the more chance you have to get concessions from Brussels”.
His intervention came the day after Ms Sturgeon unveiled a highly complex blueprint that involved the Scottish Parliament getting some control over everything ranging from immigration to business regulation to international trade negotiations.
The document said this would allow Scotland to continue to mirror the business regime in the EU single market after Brexit and Ms Sturgeon claimed this represented a reasonable and “significant compromise”.
However, she rejected a host of warnings that Scotland and England having different business and immigration regimes would inevitably lead to the creation of a hard border between the two and that any special deal would be rejected by the Spanish – which ended up being the case.
Ms Sturgeons paper argued that Scotland could join the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Economic Area (EEA) as a means of gaining full access to the single market if the UK sponsored it.
It cited the Faroe Islands trying to join the organisation as precedent, even though they have a population of less than 50,000 and have been trying unsuccessfully for a decade to be admitted.
Spanish Secretary of State for the EU, Jorge Toledo, said of the proposals: “If the UK leaves the single market, the whole UK will leave the single market. There is only one negotiator, the UK Government.”
Mr Toledo’s rejection of the plan came as a former adviser to the Scottish Parliaments EU committee accused Ms Sturgeon of pursuing a policy that is “fundamentally dishonest” because she knew it had no chance of success.
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
