Recently, we interviewed Andrea Pisauro and Nina Jetter from Europe for Scotland to learn more about their campaign strategies following the UK Supreme Court ruling on the proposed Scottish independence referendum and their views on the alternatives presented by the SNP for independence, if a referendum continues to be blocked.
Europe for Scotland is a pan-European civil society initiative that brings together citizens from all across Europe who want to express solidarity with Scotland post-Brexit and are united in their conviction that an independent Scotland should be welcomed back in the EU. They are a grassroots campaign and unaffiliated with any political party or institution.
Europe for Scotland launched in April 2021 with an open letter signed by 200 cultural figures from all EU countries and UK nations. The letter was simultaneously published in 10 European countries and covered by media outlets like The Guardian, Politico and Al Jazeera.
The idea of the campaign started with Anthony Barnett (who is English) and Adam Ramsay (who is Scottish), who both felt that it was important that Scotland should have clarity about their European future ahead of an independence referendum. They approached Europe for Scotland as they had liked a pan-European initiative they organised early in the pandemic in 2020, when Europe for Scotland wrote an open letter to Angela Merkel calling on her to support Eurobonds. The letter was signed by intellectuals, including Nobel laureates, from all across Europe and may have contributed to Merkel withdrawing her opposition to Eurobonds, which eventually paved the way for the European Recovery Fund.
Europe for Scotland wants European solidarity to be a guiding principle in EU policy and firmly believes that welcoming Scotland back with open arms would benefit the European project enormously.
The interview in full can be listened to via our YouTube channel:
In their interview, Pisauro and Jetter strongly emphasised the voices of the citizens who will be most affected by this: young Scots, young Europeans and EU citizens in the UK in particular – the voices which weren’t heard in the Brexit referendum and that can help make a compelling case to MEPs about Scotland’s European future.
