Associate Statehood for Scotland as the Way to Stay in both the United Kingdom and the European Union: the Liechtenstein Example

Abstract

The Brexit Referendum in which the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU) without a nation-wide consensus upon this vote has resulted in a new constitutional crisis in Britain. As an outcome, Scotland, which strongly backed the Remain vote, is now searching for a constitutional option that enables it to stay in both the UK and the EU. As an interdisciplinary study which pays a particular attention to the confederal relationship between Liechtenstein and Switzerland, this article emphasises that associate statehood might be a constitutional option that would allow Scotland to stay in both of the unions.

Keywords

• Brexit referendum
• constitutional crisis
• Scottish independence
• associate statehood
• European Union membership