France and Spain will not accept an independent Scotland into the European Union, according to a European Parliament vice-president.
Alejo Vidal-Quadras, an MEP from Catalonia who opposes the region’s independence from Spain, said France and Spain “will surely not” accept an independent Scotland, and the rest of the UK will “probably not” accept Scotland either.
The Scottish Government hopes to negotiate its EU membership including opt-outs of the euro, free travel areas and a budget cut in the period between the referendum in September 2014 and its proposed independence day in March 2016.
Mr Quadras described this timescale as “pure fantasy” and the hope of securing opt-outs “a dream”.
A UK Government adviser previously described the SNP administration’s negotiation timescale as “realistic”, according to an SNP administration spokeswoman who said there is “no question” that the UK would accept an independent Scotland.
Mr Quadras also insists that if Catalonia holds its own independence referendum the police will confiscate the ballot boxes.
Any nation seceding from a member state will face obstacles from its former state and from other member states with secessionist movements, he said.
When asked whether these states would accept an independent Scotland, he said: “France and Spain: surely not. The UK: probably not. Don’t forget Spain has not yet recognised Kosovo.
“The most accepted opinion by the very experienced jurists of Europe is that legally the new state is not automatically a new EU member state but should start the long and cumbersome procedure of membership as a candidate.”
He said the SNP “are not telling the truth to the Scottish people” on the EU’s requirement for border controls with England.
“If we make a big effort of imagination and imagine a Scotland separated from the UK and a member of the EU, and Scotland is in Schengen (passport free travel area) and the UK is not, then there will of course be a border between both countries, with border controls and everything.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said there is no mechanism to remove EU citizenship from Scots, that Scotland will keep the pound, and will remain part of the common travel area with the UK and Ireland, which predates Schengen and ensures passport free travel within the British Isles.
Scottish Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon said: “There is no guarantee that an independent Scotland would be welcomed to the EU with open arms. These comments show just how difficult negotiations could be, and any one of the other member states could pull the plug during talks.”
Scottish Labour MEP Catherine Stihler said: “The EU’s vice-president has hit the nail on the head by describing the SNP’s plan to negotiate Scotland’s membership of the EU in 18 months as ‘pure fantasy’.”