tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9432583.post110596307442982443..comments2024-01-16T22:44:45.454-05:00Comments on The TransAtlantic Assembly: Internal Enlargement in the EUScott M. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806282026211879465noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9432583.post-52863563421940297292009-12-18T01:04:39.864-05:002009-12-18T01:04:39.864-05:00What this means is that the "rump" state...What this means is that the "rump" state would not be in a position to block entrance to the EU to the "seceded" state, as both new national entities would be in the exact same situation: they would be by default member states as long as they formally confirmed that they continued to be party of whatever treaties the former state they were part of had signed in their name.Jack Montereynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9432583.post-32707151535046271072009-12-18T00:58:33.406-05:002009-12-18T00:58:33.406-05:00Good analysis. One point I want to make though. If...Good analysis. One point I want to make though. If Scotland were to become a new independent state, we would actually have two new legal entities, Scotland and "the UK without Scotland" (so to speak). That is, the EU would have two "brand new" states, two entities that did not exist before as such (UK-without-Scotland had not existed before as a EU member state). Therefore, there would be no "Member State that suffers from internal enlargement" + the seceded state, but two new entities. This is easier to see in the case of political divorces like that of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, but the same case would apply in a "Scotland + UK-without-Scotland" situation, or a "Catalonia + Spain-without-Catalonia" situation, and it becomes even clearer if Belgium were to break in two (Flanders and Wallonia, even if the region driving the secession process would arguably be Flanders). <br /> <br />The analogy of marriage is a good one, legally speaking: after divorce what we have is two people, not a marriage + a person (the person who initially pushed for divorce). In the case of "national divorce", whatever Treaties the Spanish state signed, it signed also in the name of Basques and Catalans. An independent Catalonia, for instance, would be as heir to the Spanish state as rump Spain (or Spain-without-Catalonia). That has other implications: both new entities, following the Treaty of Vienna, would only need to formally confirm to the EU that they intend to continue as part of the EU (and let's not forget that the Treaty of Lisbon, now completely in force, allows for member states to withdraw from the EU).Jack Monterey, Californianoreply@blogger.com