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Originally Posted by Deffeh
EU integration is definitely favourable (though we can argue all day about what course the EU should take). But again, Britain is the problem in Europe as it is in so many other areas.
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Well, if we're talking about being within a bigger EU "state" then we can approach the question differently. An "independent" Scotland within a fully integrated EU would have no independent foriegn, defence or immigration policy. Currency matters would be handled by the Central Bank and a lot of the more technical issues (e.g. consumer protection, regulatory standards in business & industry) would be a European affair. Given that, do we even need a state as big as Scotland? Perhaps you might have a Scottish group of MEPs, but why not more administrative affairs being dealt with by more local bodies? Why not a range of different bodies acting at different levels?
For instance, I can think of numerous issues which (for myself) are dealt with best by a London-wide authority. I don't want to have to buy different travelcards because I'm crossing over the Lambeth-Southwark border in the morning. But then housing and planning issues might have more of a local input. There's no reason I can think of off-hand why street-lighting would need input from London's townhall, for instance.
There is obviously some sort of Scottish cultural identity, but administratively would the Highlanders be best served by a Glasgow/Edinburgh dominated authority? What would a Scottish statelet actually do?