Building a New Scotland publication: FOI release

Information requested

'Page 51 of the Scottish Government's publication ‘Building a New Scotland [:] An independent Scotland in the EU’ of November 2023 includes the following paragraph:

A candidate country can take the final steps to becoming an EU member state when it demonstrates that it will be able to play its part fully as a member, namely by:

• complying with all the EU’s standards and rules (the ‘acquis’).
• having the consent of the EU institutions and EU member states; and
• having the consent of its citizens – as expressed through approval in its national parliament or a referendum.

With regard to this third point, I would be most grateful if the following information could now be provided:

1. Previous drafts of this paragraph, or previous paragraphs elsewhere in other drafts of the document, where the ‘consent of its citizens’ principle is mentioned.

2. Previous drafts of this paragraph, or previous paragraphs elsewhere in other drafts of this document, where mention is made of a national parliament taking the decision to authorise Scotland’s re-entry into the EU.

3. Previous drafts of this paragraph, or previous paragraphs elsewhere in other drafts of this document, where mention is made of a referendum being taken or required to authorise Scotland’s re-entry to the EU.'

Response

1. Having completed searches of previous versions of this document, I can confirm that paragraph in question remains unchanged throughout the drafting process. The term ‘consent of its citizens’ is not mentioned in any other part of the document.

2. As above, there is no mention of a national parliament taking the decision to authorise Scotland’s re-entry into the EU in any other part of the document, including earlier drafts of the document.

3. As above, there is no mention of a referendum being taken or required to authorise Scotland’s re-entry to the EU in any other part of the document, including earlier drafts of the document.

The paragraph you have asked about can be found on the European Commission's website. Conditions for membership - European Commission (europa.eu).

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