L’impact de la future adhésion de l’Écosse à l’UE lors du débat référendaire de 2014 : une source d’inquiétude concernant l’évolution des frontières

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, the SNP has tried to use EU membership to promote independence. In the early 1990s this was strengthened by the Maastricht Treaty which introduced the subsidiarity principle, allowing Scotland to bypass the British State thanks to the concept of multi-level governance. Nevertheless, the promise of EU membership did not always make things easier for the SNP. It aroused many concerns about the evolution of borders in the advent of an independent Scotland which would be part of the EU. Three main questions were raised: would Scotland be required to join the Schengen Area as a condition of EU membership? Would it be able to remain part of the Common Travel Area (CTA)? Would it be able to manage its borders? Scotland’s prospective EU membership gave rise to much uncertainty and increased some of the fears linked to the prospect of Scotland becoming an independent country. This paper will consequently examine how the concerns about Scotland’s independence and its prospective EU membership were intertwined and impacted upon the referendum debate as far as borders were concerned. I will focus on the problem raised by a possible requirement for Scotland to join the Schengen Area as part of EU membership. I will also examine the concerns aroused by these issues during the referendum debate, analysing the main arguments used by the nationalists and the pro-Union side. Finally, I will try to assess to what extent these concerns were justified.