Tuesday, October 11, 2011

EU taxation and representation

Over at Subrosa's blog, Oldrightie ponders the 'horrors' of an independent Scotland joining the EU -

"There is also the matter of North Sea oil in Scottish waters. I assume the claim to those still to be exhausted and quite large reserves will become part of the European piggy banks. Subject to being taxed and controlled for the benefit of all the EU States."

Well, as self-confessed 'assumptions' go, that's a pretty huge one, isn't it? The tax revenue goes straight into the United Kingdom coffers at present, and so an independent Scotland would become the beneficiary instead. Any change to that position would require a treaty, and by extension the consent of all member states, ie. if Scotland was independent by then, we could veto.

"Now here would lie an irony. The same devastation wrought on the fishing industry, visited on the oil business. Much to savour and look forward to, as an Independent EU State, dominated by majority voting by the European Federal bodies!"

A great many of us are certainly looking forward to the elected Scottish government actually having a direct vote in EU bodies, as opposed to our being 'represented' at UK level by Danny Alexander and Michael Moore, and at EU level by David Cameron and William Hague.

And on a point of pedantry, the title of Oldrightie's post is also misleading - there wouldn't be any Scottish euro notes if (and it's clearly now a big if) we were to join the single currency. Which would be a matter of regret, but there would of course be Scottish euro coins instead!

2 comments:

  1. "A great many of us" may be looking forward to EU membership, but perhaps not everyone. It's certainly something that should be put to a referendum. I can agree that scaremongering doesn't help at all.

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  2. Clearly the idea that as soon as they have to deal with Edinburgh instead of London, the EU will rub its hands together and internationalise the oil on the basis that we are too wee, too poor and too stupid to stop them is absurd. If they think for a second that they will take any kind of rise out of Scotland, they clearly haven't met Alex or Nicola.

    As far as fisheries are concerned, the Scottish government has for the last 4+ years being fighting to be allowed to send OUR fisheries minister to Brussels, seeing as he actually KNOWS something about fisheries. However we have been rebuffed. The English fisheries minister goes instead, not knowing squat about fishery and not having any parliamentary responsibility for what happens in Scotland. Raw deal or what? Still we are used to it.

    I would bet my next year's salary that there would have been a very different outcome in fishing talks had our ministers been involved.

    I may be wrong, but I suspect that the Euro will come through this crisis at least as well as the pound and the dollar, both of which are in a bad way. And if we do join, you are right: our coins will be Scottish and our notes will be European, just like everyone else's.

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