News / EU exit could be ‘absolute disaster’
SHETLAND Islands Council leader Gary Robinson believes it would be an “absolute disaster” for Scotland to lose its links with the European Union following Britain’s decision to leave the EU in June.
Robinson made the claim as a EU seminar on economic development in rural locations was held in Lerwick on Friday, despite Britain’s exit from the union looming.
The EU’s Committee of the Regions’ (CoR) territorial cohesion chairman Raffaele Cattaneo backed the SIC man by suggesting the EU exit was a “great mistake” for Britain.
The one-day CoR seminar at Mareel, entitled Overcoming Barriers To Economic Development – A Remote Island Perspective, stemmed from an invitation from Shetland Islands Council leader Gary Robinson last year.
He is one of a handful of Scottish members on the CoR, which aims to give a greater voice to local areas.
The Mareel auditorium was packed with delegates from countries as far flung as Greece, Latvia and Slovakia.
Among the attendees were chairman of the European Small Islands Federation Bengt Almkvist, Orkney Islands Council convener Steven Heddle and University of Edinburgh’s Professor James Mitchell.
At the rear of the room were a number of booths providing translations of the speakers on stage, giving Mareel a truly continental feel.
The overarching objective of the seminar was to give the CoR a better understanding of the issues faced by rural locations like Shetland when it comes to economic development.
One of the key issues of the seminar was connection to high-speed broadband, while transport and an ageing population was also highlighted.
The Scottish Government aims to achieve “superfast” broadband for all by 2021, but concerns were raised recently about providing access to the country’s most remote locations, like some parts of Shetland.
“In my opinion this is the most important issue,” Cattaneo said. “Some physical distances are not so easy to close. If you leave an island, you need ferries, an airport. The problem of the commuters remain.
“But it’s possible to close the gap by technology. For instance, this morning I have no WiFi connection here. It’s more easy to sort a problem of WiFi connection than the problem of ferries or airport. Good quality of connections to broadband facilities is a starting point. The contribution of the EU funds must be directed most of all to that issue.”
Cattaneo, on his first visit it to Shetland, also suffered problems flying to Shetland after technical problems caused delays.
When asked how funding will be affected post-EU exit, Robinson said it is unclear how things will pan out.
“I don’t think at this stage we know what Brexit is going to be, or indeed if Brexit itself is going to be,” he said.
“I think it’s going to run for a long time. It’s certainly my vote that we can, if not remain in the European Union ultimately, certainly retain very strong links with Europe, because I think it’d be an absolute disaster for any other scenario to come about.
“We trade with Europe, we’ve traded with Europe historically going back hundreds of years, so to suggest we can somehow cut ourselves off from Europe and start trading with the Australians instead is to my mind ridiculous.”
Robinson added that the “Norway option” could be something to consider in the coming years, with the country not politically involved in the EU, but still a member of the European Economic Area. That idea has “already been rejected”, he said.
“The unfortunate thing with Norway is that they have to accept regulations without having any say in what the European Union decides,” Robinson said.
“What the European Committee of the Regions is there to do is to make sure that the voices of places such as Shetland, and all the other local and regional authorities right across Europe, is heard at that level.”
Raffaele Cattaneo, president of the Regional Council of Lombardy in Italy, added that the CoR is “committed” to working with the United Kingdom despite its vote to leave the EU.
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