I have just been wondering about all this nonsense from Better Together about Scotland re-applying to join the EU.
Some simple facts for people to consider:
• Scotland is at the moment part of the EU, and has been for 40 years.
• We are fully intergrated into all EU departments and systems.
• We meet all EU legal requirements.
• Why would the EU want us to leave?
• We have a major share of EU fishing grounds,and large part of EU oil reserves. Only a renegotiation of treaties are required to seperate Scotland from the rest of the UK,( the rest of the UK would also need to renegotiate their treaties).
• The EU actually has no system by which it can expel an existing member.
Shetlanders should be looking to having the same status as the Åland Islands.
With a “yes” vote Shetland can negotiate special status within their nation states and within the EU. A “no” vote means no advance for Shetland.
With a “yes” vote, in Scotland’s accession treaty negotiations Shetland can get specific provision with other island groups to be at the top table during EU decision making.
Listen to Jean Didier Hache at http://mixlr.com/islands2014/showreel/islands2014-fri-20-sep-2014-morning-session-part-2-of-2/
I feel the scaremongerers are trying too hard to make a case out of nothing. Some sensible negotiations would sort all this out before our independence date in 2016.
John Thomson
25 Haldane Burgess Crescent,
Lerwick.