Why Not Scotland The sourced case for Scottish independence

The EU and the border

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The case for independence

  • The Scottish Government plans to apply to re-join the EU, whose single market it describes as “seven times the size of the UK”.3
  • It says Scotland would remain in the Common Travel Area, so British citizens would not need Scottish citizenship to live and work in Scotland.2
  • It plans to re-join EU exchange programmes such as Erasmus+.8

How it works now

The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. New members join through the process in Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union. The applicant's membership must be agreed unanimously by the Council, approved by the European Parliament and ratified by every member state.4

The challenges

  • EU membership needs the agreement of every existing member state.4
  • Pamela Nash of the pro-UK campaign Scotland in Union said that claiming a separate Scotland could “join the EU without adopting the euro, shows they don't understand geopolitics”.5
  • The UK Government set out its analysis in “Scotland analysis: EU and international issues” (January 2014) and “Scotland analysis: borders and citizenship” (January 2014).6

How Scotland would meet them

  • Apply to re-join the EU “as soon as possible” after independence.1
  • Trade with the rest of the UK would be governed by the EU–UK arrangements in place at the time.1
  • Remain in the Common Travel Area, so British citizens would not need Scottish citizenship to live and work in Scotland.2
  • It describes the EU single market as “seven times the size of the UK”.3

Source: Building a New Scotland, Papers 5, 7 and 14

What independent analysts say

Researchers for UK in a Changing Europe concluded that, if an independent Scotland joined the EU, “the Anglo-Scottish border would become not just an international border between Scotland and what remains of the UK, but a new land border between the EU and the UK.”7

Still to be settled

How long would EU accession take?

The Scottish Government has not set a timetable.1

Would Scotland have to join the euro?

This has not been settled, and we have not yet found reliable published analysis. We will add sourced material when it becomes available.

Would there be checks at the border with England?

This has not been settled, and we have not yet found reliable published analysis. We will add sourced material when it becomes available.

Sources

  1. Scottish Government, Building a New Scotland: An independent Scotland in the EU (Paper 7), 17 November 2023.
  2. Scottish Government, Building a New Scotland: Citizenship in an independent Scotland (Paper 5), 27 July 2023.
  3. Scottish Government, A Fresh Start with Independence — Summary (Paper 14), 8 October 2025.
  4. Institute for Government, Scottish independence (explainer), updated 29 May 2026.
  5. Pamela Nash (Scotland in Union), quoted by GB News, responding to the Scottish Government’s March 2024 paper on Scotland’s place in the world.
  6. UK Government, Scotland analysis (collection of papers), 2013–14.
  7. Katy Hayward and Nicola McEwen, UK in a Changing Europe, An EU border across Britain: Scotland’s borders after independence, 3 February 2022.
  8. Scottish Government, Enhanced opportunities for people of all ages (news release on Paper 12), 25 March 2024.