John Swinney has said rejoining the European Union should be a “national mission”. He has warned Scotland would pay “a heavy price” if the UK Government does not pursue closer cooperation with Brussels on issues like freedom of movement and exports.
June will mark nine years since the UK voted for Brexit, while the five year anniversary of us leaving the EU is later this month. Scotland overwhelmingly rejected Brexit and the SNP insists we should rejoin the block.
Here are five ways in which leaving the EU has been a problem for Scots.
Travel
Leaving the European Union has meant that Scots are unable to travel as freely as they used to.
The EU’s free movement policy meant that any person from the UK could go to Europe for however long they wanted. But we now need a visa for trips for longer than 90 days in a 180-day period. Reports have suggested that there could be a visa fee of £7 to visit EU countries later this year
We also used to get in the fast track line at border control. But now Scots have to queue up with people from all non-EU countries.
NHS
The ending of free movement has also meant that many EU citizens who were living and working in Scotland have left, with the number of new ones coming in restricted. This has left our health service in a difficult position as it was reliant on many EU workers.
It is now harder to recruit staff and experts from the EU, while Scots can no longer travel to Europe for treatments which are unavailable in the UK
Trade
Leaving the EU meant that Scotland – and the rest of the UK – left the European Single Market. This has meant that it is harder for businesses in the UK to trade with Europe, with more red tape and bureaucracy to go through.
In 2023 the Scottish government said that 44 per cent of businesses in Scotland which faced difficulties trading overseas said Brexit was the main cause.
Studying abroad
While part of the EU, young Scots could study in Europe as part of the Erasmus scheme. But the UK leaving the programme meant that Scottish students could no longer take part in it.
The Erasmus scheme contributed £22 million to 190 educational projects across Scotland in 2020. But the UK Government’s replacement – called the Turing Scheme – only gave £9m to 30 Scottish projects in 2022 to 2023.
Fishing
Fishermen overwhelmingly backed Brexit in 2016, with slogans claiming Britain would “take back control of our waters.” But Boris Johnson’s agreement with the EU gave European fishermen significant access to UK waters until at least next year.
Salmon Scotland said last year that Brexit had cost up to £100m each year as the number of sales to the EU had decreased.
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