UK security treaty with EU would aid independent Scotland

In an increasingly unstable world steadily fragmenting into regional blocs, it is important that where we have like-minded allies we work together.

At least that was the point I tried to make at yesterday’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Questions. It is not an old idea, since we had proposed it in the first submission to the Integrated Review back in 2020.

Labour have since belatedly come onside and recognised its merits. In Brussels, the proposal could have become a reality during Theresa May’s premiership if the UK had not torpedoed the idea.

As expected though, the Government simply did not share our same enthusiasm for working alongside the EU, whose own approach to continental security has evolved at light speed. This evolution has been long overdue and would have been scarcely believable to me and my colleagues who sat on the EU’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

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During my nearly 20 years as a parliamentarian, the world has changed dramatically and there is a need to ensure we are ready to meet the challenges of the next 20 years.

It will not be enough to win independence; we will also have to secure it. Scotland’s location, economy and the innovative dynamism of its citizens means that we will be too strategic to go dark.

Even if we wanted to be isolationist or neutral, such a luxury is no longer possible in today’s world (if it ever was). It is one of the reasons why I advocated for the party to change its Nato policy position back in 2012 but also part of why I believe an independent Scotland’s best future lies back in the EU. Nato and EU membership will be the cornerstone of an independent Scotland’s prosperity and security.

Both organisations are also evolving rapidly before our very eyes in response to new and old threats. Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine last year has helped sharpen minds but it is not the only challenge facing us.

Climate change is a threat multiplier which will lead to conflicts over resources. China’s authoritarian model poses a potential systemic challenge to liberal democracies from Taiwan to Washington to Brussels. Artificial intelligence promises to be a major disruptor both for good and for ill. Within today’s international security environment, the only certainty is uncertainty.

Which brings us to Nato’s Strategic Concept and the EU’s Strategic Compass.

Nato updated its Strategic Concept last year where it laid out Nato’s values and purpose. The Strategic Concept outlined its fundamental tasks and roles, provided an assessment of the international security environment and stated its approach to addressing the issues and challenges it faces.

While the Strategic Concept is a long-established part of Nato’s framework, the EU’s Strategic Compass was something new. Its provision of a shared threat assessment was a first in the EU’s history and it proposed a common strategic vision for EU security and defence to 2030.

Over the past year, we have seen that it has some bite, with its promise to deploy €1 billion worth of “lethal aid” in support of Ukraine through the European Peace Facility. With Permanent Structured Co-operation (Pesco) now having 60 projects in total, we’re also seeing the EU take the development of vital defence projects on a continental level seriously.

Then there’s the sick man of Europe, the UK. Brexit as a decision was bad enough; yet the UK has chosen not to engage with the EU when it could. Brexit did not mean having to be out of Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, Pesco or any vital collaborative effort. Yet the UK Government did just that and the next one (whether Tory or Labour) seems to arrogantly insist that its way is the best way.

The problem for the UK is that it has tried to see the EU and Nato as two separate organisation which have no relationship with each other, as reflected in the minister’s answer yesterday.

Of Nato’s 31 members, 22 are part of the EU. Structured co-operation has gone back decades. The most recent joint declaration on EU-Nato co-operation agreed earlier this year has further strengthened and expanded the strategic partnership between Nato and the EU.

Both organisations are not evolving independently – they are evolving together.

This is where a comprehensive security treaty between the UK and the EU would go a long way towards building bridges between these islands and the EU. We face many of the same challenges and threats. It is only by working together through sharing information and harmonising workloads that we can hope to seriously tackle them.

This is also a good thing for Scottish independence. As we aspire to membership of both institutions, it is absolutely in our interest for the UK to have good relations with them. Geography matters – both for the UK when it comes to the EU and for Scotland post-independence with the rest of the UK.

A smooth EU-UK relationship also means a smooth Scotland-UK relationship down the line, something that will benefit everyone on all sides.

With Nato, the UK will have a veto over our membership. With the EU, the manner by which we go independent will shape how we are seen as potential candidates.

There is a world beyond Scotland which we want to be part of. By being a good neighbour, we will help lay the foundations for Scotland’s successful independent future.