THE new independence white paper sets out Scotland’s “offer” to the European Union, a minister has said.
On Friday, the Scottish Government launched the latest publication in the Building a New Scotland series focusing on how Scotland could become a fully fledged member of the bloc.
Speaking to The National’s Holyrood Weekly podcast, Europe Minister Christina McKelvie pointed out that Scotland is in a “very different place” than during the 2014 independence referendum.
She said: “It's not just about us gathering all the benefits from being a member of the European Union, it's what we can then offer, and for me, a part of the work that I'm doing in international development also covers peace and security.
“For me, the European Union epitomises one of the best peace treaties that we've ever had.
“We're living in a world right now where we see that peace is very, very fragile.
“I think Scotland's placed very nicely, we have the Scotland Centre for Global Affairs at St Andrews. People view Scotland as sensible people with good ideas, who can get people around a table."
McKelvie added: “It’s the offer that we’ve got to the rest of the world that I think is particularly important, in particular, to our friends in the European Union.”
The Europe minister added that now Scotland is outside of the EU, it provides a “very clear path” to allow an independent nation to rejoin, and what steps would need to be taken ahead of negotiations.
“We are managing, against some of the push from the UK Government, to maintain our alignment with EU law.
“I think we could very quickly move through signing off all the acquis because we’ve maintained that alignment”.
We told how Constitution and External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson set out how he believed Scotland is in a “good place” to quickly rejoin the European Union in the event of a Yes vote.
And McKelvie added that to her it was important that Scotland has its place on the world stage as a European citizen, and what it can offer those in the international community.
She added: “We want people to come to Scotland, whether you come from the European Union, or wider, but having freedom of movement, being able to access all of the research and development work that's going on in Europe as well, just gives so many opportunities.
“Not just to young people here, young people coming from elsewhere, but to our population already - upskilling, getting involved in some of the most advanced research and development when it comes to science, climate change, renewable energy. There's so much we have to offer.”
