A SPANISH Member of the European Parliament (MEP) has expressed sympathy towards Scotland rejoining the European Union (EU).
Domenec Ruiz Devesa is a Spanish MEP and is part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. He is also president of the Union of European Federalists, a movement which promotes the creation of a European federal state based on the idea of unity in diversity.
Speaking on The National’s Our Friends in Europe podcast with columnist Assa Samake-Roman, Devesa said he could see Scotland rejoining the EU, as Brexit was “not exactly what they voted for”.
READ MORE: Assa Samake-Roman: The EU paradox - people love it but they won’t turn out to vote
In the 2016 Brexit referendum, Scotland voted by 62% to remain in the EU, compared to the UK’s overall remain vote of 46.6%.
Devesa compared Scotland’s situation with the UK with Catalonia’s relationship with Spain, adding that it shows “how different the two places are”.
“Scotland was able to vote about whether to remain part of the UK or not, in a referendum that was agreed and developed within the constitutional wording of the UK,” Devesa said.
“That was, I think, a legal expression of the view of the Scottish people.
“In Catalonia in 2017 we had a referendum called by the Catalan government of the time without really following the constitutional procedures of the Spanish state.”
Devesa added that Catalonia was - at the time of the referendum - and remains a part of the EU because it is a part of Spain, whereas Scotland was in the EU when the referendum took place in 2014, but as a result of Brexit this is no longer the case.
“The conditions have objectively changed for the Scottish people,” Devesa said.
“This is not exactly what they voted for. They voted for Scotland to remain in the UK, when the UK was also a member of the EU. Now, a fundamental part of the equation has changed.”
READ MORE: MEP candidates urged to declare official support for Scotland joining EU
He added that he understood rejoining the EU was a “big issue for Scotland” and expressed support for Scotland rejoining the EU should independence be achieved.
“I hope they would not delay [rejoining the EU] if independence is to come back,” Devesa said.
“Of course, it is up to the Scottish people to decide.”
Devesa also said he could see “a new referendum about being part of the UK” in the future, “because the terms of the contract have changed”.
Listen to all episodes of Our Friends in Europe here.
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