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Subject: I am asking you to join me in solidarity with Scotland supporting the open letter "Europe for Scotland"

Body:

My friend,

I want to ask you to join me and other 200 European intellectuals from across the continent and the world in signing an important open letter telling the EU Parliament, European Commission, European Council to express their solidarity with Scotland and prepare to welcome Scotland back in the EU.

As you might know, Scotland has been taken out of the EU against its democratic will. I want to ask you to join me in telling the people of Scotland that Europeans everywhere would welcome them back in the European Union if this is their democratic wish.

Please have a look at our call of solidarity with Scotland copied below and currently being translated in all European languages, and confirm you want to join me in supporting it.

I count on your support

***

Dear Heads of State and Government of the EU, President of the European Council, President and Members of the European Parliament, President and Members of the Commission,

We are Europeans from across the continent and around the world. Naturally, we disagree about many things. But we all agree on this: We want the people of Scotland to know that Europeans everywhere would welcome them back in the European Union if this is still their democratic wish.

In the 2016 Brexit Referendum, not a single Scottish district voted to leave, and Scotland as a whole voted by a 62% majority to remain in the EU. In subsequent years, the Scottish Parliament rejected the withdrawal process at every stage. Yet in 2020, Scotland was taken out of the European Union alongside the rest of the UK.

When Scots voted to remain in the EU, they did so as part of the United Kingdom. Separating themselves from the UK to become a member state of the EU is a different matter. One that demands its own referendum, which the Scottish Parliament and government have formally requested. At present the UK government refuses to permit this.

We should not stand idle while this impasse lasts. It is an unprecedented development and demands fresh thinking from the EU.

Therefore, we call on you to ensure that the EU clearly signals a path for Scotland to become a member in advance of any independence referendum.

The usual process is for the EU to respond to a membership request only when it comes from an independent country.

Scotland deserves a different process. While it is legally part of the UK the Scottish government cannot negotiate with the EU. But the EU can declare that, because Scotland has already long been part of the EU, should it become legally and democratically independent it need not apply as a ‘new’ accession candidate.

Instead, the EU and its member states should make a unilateral and open offer of membership: an exceptional proposal to match Scotland’s exceptional circumstances.

The EU has demonstrated already that it can recognise the unique circumstance created by Brexit. The European Council unilaterally confirmed at its Summit of 29 April 2017 that Northern Ireland would become part of the EU immediately should it ever vote in the future to join the Republic of Ireland.

The EU should offer as much continuity as possible to Scotland too. This requires creative practical thinking. No one knows the short and long term costs of Brexit for Scotland, nor those linked to breaking away from the UK – including issuing a new currency if the Scots so wish (whether or not they eventually join the Euro). In light of this, generous terms should be offered to support Scotland’s budget in the challenging months of the transition before re-joining the EU.

These are important issues because they will make it possible for any referendum to be a clear, practical and democratic choice for Scotland between two unions: the EU or the UK.

Europeans must always stand for democracy and solidarity. So we call upon you to express our joint solidarity with the citizens of Scotland and to support Scotland’s democratic choice about its future.

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Thanks for your support.

Scotland needs our solidarity. Please spread this call among your friends everywhere in Europe.

Sponsored by

Europe for Scotland

Dear friend,

Thanks so much for signing our open letter asking EU leaders to welcome Scotland back in the EU.

Our letter has been first published on the 29/4/2021 in several European newspapers. There are now more than 15,000 of us - writers, scholars, activists and citizens from all 27 EU member states, all UK nations, as well as some other European countries such as Norway and Switzerland.

On the fifth anniversary of the Brexit referendum we released a video to remember the Brexit vote, reflect on the injustice of Scotland’s exit from the EU, and express the hope of welcoming our Scottish friends back into the EU. You can watch it clicking here or on the image below.

We are proud that among us are some of the world’s leading thinkers in contemporary history, philosophy, and political science, and that we have won the support of wonderful artists, actors, composers, and writers.

You can see the list of first 200 signatories on our website, europeforscotland.com. Please take a look and send any comments you have to info@europeforscotland.com or simply reply to this email.

We would love for you to invite your friends to join us.

Let us Europeans unite behind a simple, clear message: Scotland will always be welcome back in the EU!

Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon and YouTube (where we have many more videos you may want to watch) and share our posts and tweets.

Many thanks in advance and Viva Scotland in Europe!

Europe for Scotland's team

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