Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 15 October 2016: Brexit: Scotland may seek independent EU trade deal

The Scottish government's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, held a speech on Saturday in Glasgow to close the Scottish National Party (SNP) Congress. She said that "Scotland will one day become an independent country" and for her the question is not how Scotland becomes independent but when. In 2014 the nationalists had lost a first independence referendum, but now it is highly probable that a second independence referendum will be held due to the upcoming Brexit. Sturgeon is hoping that a hard Brexit might strengthen support for Scottish independence. In Scotland 62% of voters voted to remain in the EU in June.

Separatists are now calling for a renewed independence vote before the British EU exit, as a possible reentry of an independent Scotland would be more difficult. Nicola Sturgeon stated that she will work on trying to save the UK as a whole from a hard Brexit, where the country would be removed from the single market. But in case Theresa May`s Tory government rejects these efforts and the UK will end up leaving the EU's single market, Sturgeon said, her government would propose new powers to help keep Scotland in the trading area. This would mean that Scotland would opt for a Scottish autonomous trade diplomacy to keep Scotland in the single market even if the UK leaves. Her plan to boost Scottish trade and exports includes: a new "board of trade" to draw on business expertise, a trade envoy scheme to recruit prominent Scottish business leaders, a permanent trade and innovation hub in Berlin and doubling the number of Scottish Development International staff working across Europe.