UK Edition
Nicola Sturgeon 'mess' over Brexit after single market proposal attacked in Scottish Government report she introduced
Nicola Sturgeon’s stance on Brexit is an “embarrassing mess”, it has been alleged after it emerged she unveiled a report three years ago that strongly warned against her latest plan to keep Scotland in the EU single market.
The First Minister confirmed she is considering a Norway-style model to stay in the single market by pushing for Scotland to join the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and European Economic Area (EEA).
Her admission came the day after Keith Brown, her Economy Minister, distanced himself from the plan and as Alex Salmond contradicted her Brexit Minister by stating SNP MPs could vote with the UK Government on triggering Article 50.
In further evidence of the disarray enveloping the SNP, the Telegraph can disclose the Scottish Government has published an in-depth analysis of the Norway plan that concluded this was not a “desirable option” from an economic or democratic perspective.
Complete with a foreword from Ms Sturgeon, it said the EEA “effectively extends the geographical reach” of the single market to Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway and allows them tariff-free access with complex strings attached.
But it warned that “Scotland’s citizens would lose all ability to influence the laws and regulations to which they would be subject” because EEA members have little input into the single market’s rules.
Critics have coined the phrase “fax democracies” for EEA countries, it said, because “a substantial proportion of their domestic laws appear by fax from Brussels.”
The report also warned this would make Scotland less attractive to foreign investors as “the Scottish Government would lose all influence over the laws and regulations” to which the companies would be bound.
It concluded: “In that scenario it would make more sense for foreign investors to locate in a country that exerted real influence over these laws and regulations.”
The analysis, published by the Scottish Government in November 2013, made the case for an independent Scotland becoming an EU member state if there was a Yes vote in the following year's referendum.
However, the 105-page document also contained a section titled “Why the alternatives to membership are not attractive” in which it examined the EEA and EFTA.
Ms Sturgeon’s latest proposal is for Scotland to join while part of the UK, rather than as an independent state, but the same rules criticised by the report would apply.
Murdo Fraser, a senior Scottish Tory MSP, said: “Within hours of the First Minister seemingly contradicting her Economy Secretary over the attractiveness of EEA membership and confirming it is still an option for the SNP, we now learn that she signed off on an official Scottish Government paper ridiculing the prospect.
"There is one reason only why the SNP ends up in this kind of embarrassing mess - and that is its over-riding obsession with independence."
Ms Sturgeon has previously said one of her red lines for the Brexit deal was continuing to have an influence over the rules of the EU single market.
But the Scottish Government analysis warned that EEA members are obliged to make a financial contribution to the EU and follow a “substantial amount of EU law” over which they have no say.
“As a result critics argue that EEA countries suffer a very serious “democratic deficit” by having no input to many of the laws adopted in their country,” it said.
“Some critics have even gone so far as to describe the EEA countries as ‘fax democracies’ because a substantial proportion of their domestic laws appear by fax from Brussels!”
The report quoted Erna Solberg, the Norwegian Prime Minister as saying: “The democratic deficit is apparent. We have no formal political representation in Brussels or Strasbourg, and no voting rights on the legislation that eventually will become national laws.
“We are not at the negotiating table when the EU is assembled and we’re lucky if we’ve made it into the hallways of Brussels.”
The analysis also examined the model pursued by Switzerland, which is a member of EFTA but not the EEA. However, it warned that trade deals it has reached with Brussels “have been the result of lengthy, and complex, negotiations which took many years to complete.”
Jim Sillars, the SNP’s former deputy leader, supports an independent Scotland joining the EEA and EFTA rather than the EU and said he thought some of the criticisms levelled in the report were inaccurate.
However, he said Scotland would not be able to join either organisation while part of the UK and the report meant Ms Sturgeon would have to eat “humble pie” if she tried.
Dr Stuart MacLennan, of Coventry University, also warned a “big stumbling block” was Scotland not being a sovereign state and predicted Spain and Belgium would never allow it to join the EEA while part of the UK for fear of encouraging their own separatist movements.
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that Ms Sturgeon’s plan was a “recipe for a constitutional car crash” because European law, which is “supreme” for EEA members, could clash with UK law.
In a further twist, Mr Salmond told his radio phone-in show that SNP MPs could vote with the UK Government to formally trigger Brexit if the party’s key demands on the single market are met.
However, this contradicted remarks by Mike Russell, the SNP’s Brexit Minister, who said he could not imagine the circumstances in which they would vote for Article 50. Labour’s Lewis Macdonald said: “This is a complete U-turn in the space of just 10 days.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU – and we are exploring all options to protect Scotland’s national interests.
“We will set out proposals in the next few weeks that will keep Scotland in the Single Market even if the rest of the UK leaves.”