РУАЭСТ (RUAEST)
THE SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM OF SEPTEMBER 2014: CONSTITUTIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS
On 18 September 2014, a referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent state produced a 55% ‘No’ vote. Following upon a gradual increase in Scotland’s powers of self-government, the referendum process was a constitutional and peaceful one, based on agreement between the UK and Scottish Parliaments. Had the result been ‘Yes’, a further negotiation would have taken place to determine the details of separation. Scotland would have faced many tasks and complications in establishing its status on the international scene, for example in relation to NATO and the EU. Despite the ’No’ vote, Scotland now expects to receive certain new delegated powers, and has some options for further enlarging its room for manoeuvre also on the foreign scene.