International relations

International relations after independence

Stephen Richard — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 15:36:43 +0000

International relations after independence Stephen Richard Thu, 10/28/2021 - 16:36

Author or Creator

Common Weal

How would an independent Scotland take its place in the world?

How does an independent Scotland develop relations with the rest of the world?

This is really two sets of questions – how do we set up the infrastructure which enables Scotland to function as proper nation state when it deals with other countries (or people, businesses or organisations from other countries) and how do we go about joining the international organisations and coalitions which govern global politics. Some of this is covered under other questions in this briefing (like establishing international standard passports and border systems or joining the United Nations).

So how do you go about joining the other international organisations?

There are many organisations (and also treaties) which Scotland might want to join or sign up to (some it definitely would want to). Each of the membership organisations have their own rules for joining. Some are quite complex but must be worked through (like the World Trade Organisation), others are long and involve a lot of preparation (joining the EU) some are fairly routine (becoming a member of the United Nations). Each needs to be looked at individually and the processes worked through. But really only the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation are pretty well essential.

So what about the European Union?

Joining the EU is a fairly lengthy process and a country has to make sure it is largely aligned with EU rules in a number of ways before the process can even start properly (though from the moment a country that indicates it wants to join it enters a long-tern relationship with the EU). That alignment involves ensuring that all the necessary regulatory agencies are in place (there are some of these that Scotland will need to create from scratch, but would have to anyway), a central bank and currency are established, rules are beginning to be harmonised and various financial thresholds are met. At that point there is a formal three-year accession period which involves quite complex negotiations (not in the sense that they are unlikely to be achieved but that there are a lot of them). The country joining has to join the European Economic Area at the start of this process (which ensures full harmonisation with the European Single Market). But there are staging options such as joining the European Free Trade Organisation (which can be done quickly) and then it is possible to join the EEA independently of joining the EU. There are many complex decisions to be made and they get more complex the longer we diverge from EU membership inside the UK. There is no problem about finding a route to a productive relationship with the EU but how far, how quickly and with what implications is something that requires proper examination and proper debate.

What about international treaties?

Treaties are agreements between nation states that seek to govern how they interact with each other and create a kind of 'international order'. There really are many hundreds of these to which Scotland will be a signatory through the UK. Many relate to international organisations and so Scotland would become an independent signatory to those ones during the membership process to these organisations. Some are 'signals of intent' that Scotland will want to apply to sign (like for example nuclear non-proliferation treaties). Some may just be irrelevant or defunct and there are some we might actively want to exit. And of those, some may be political decisions for later Scottish governments. The National Commission simply needs to sit down, go through them all and put them into each of these various categories.

What about trading with other nations?

This is of course important for an advanced economy like Scotland. There are a number of ways in which trade is handled, including bilateral deals, multilateral deals and WTO rules. The key to the multilateral deals is the relationship with the EU – EFTA has a series of pre-made deals, the EEA is a large trading block and so on. This all has to be negotiated. Depending on the outcome of this there may or may not be any scope for bilateral deals. Whatever happens, Scotland must join the WTO. This involves signing up to a baseline position of how it will undertake trade and making clear the 'rules' you will set for trade (for example, outlining tariffs or quotas you will put in place). Once you do that you must abide by these – but if Scotland was a full member of the EU then it is the EU (as a single trading block) that sets these rules and Scotland's commitments would be as part of the EU. Any way round, trading arrangements would be similar to those pre-independence, unless the UK signs a lot of bilateral agreements before independence.

So how do we manage all of that after independence?

That's fairly straightforward – we need to set up a Foreign Office as part of the civil service. But it will mean recruiting staff with experience as Scotland's civil service don't have a lot of foreign affairs experience.

And what about embassies?

Again, this is pretty straightforward. If Scotland is a member of the EU it has an embassy-sharing agreement and Scotland might well be able to agree a sharing deal with the UK during negotiations. But there is nothing complicated about setting up a consulate network. At heart they are premises and an agreement with the host nation to recognise them as a consulate. It is unlikely that Scotland would want to maintain a full consular presence in every one of the world's nations but it will not be hard to identify the number of countries where Scotland has historic connections, trades extensively or has a significant level of travel by Scottish citizens. Purchasing a property in each and agreeing recognition with the nation state will not be difficult – and many of them will want to open embassies in Scotland in return.

Keywords

International relations

International trade

European Union

How Scotland’s foreign policy could help shape the world

Stephen Richard — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 11:41:43 +0000

How Scotland’s foreign policy could help shape the world

Primary Author or Creator

Believe in Scotland

Stephen Richard Fri, 11/05/2021 - 11:41

Alternative Published Date

2021

Scotland’s new choice; Independence after Brexit

Stephen Richard — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 11:24:54 +0000

Scotland’s new choice; Independence after Brexit

Primary Author or Creator

Eve Hepburn

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/26/2021 - 12:24

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Michael Keating, Nicola McEwen, Centre on Constitutional Change

Alternative Published Date

2021

Scottish Independence: A Practical Guide

Stephen Richard — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 17:02:58 +0000

Scottish Independence: A Practical Guide

Primary Author or Creator

Jo E. Murkens

Stephen Richard Fri, 09/24/2021 - 18:02

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Peter Jones and Michael Keating, University College London, Edinburgh University Press

Publisher

Edinburgh University Press

Alternative Published Date

2002