I watched a clip of Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth being interviewed on Good Morning Britain. Independence was brought up and one of the panellists – the LBC presenter Iain Dale – said Wales wouldn’t be an independent country if it chose to join the EU after leaving the UK. He also said it would be hypocritical to want to join the EU after leaving the Union.
These views are often touted online by anti-independence campaigners and Brexiteers. But they fail to acknowledge that the UK and the EU are very different unions, or what independence offers for Wales.
Defining an independent country
One of the first things we must do is define what makes a country or state independent and hence sovereign. International law defines a sovereign state as having a permanent population, a defined territory, a government that isn’t under another government, and the capacity to interact with other states on a sovereign basis.
Wales only meets two of those four criteria: a permanent population and a defined territory. Its government is subordinate to the UK government, with only limited powers, and can’t interact with other countries on an equal footing.
Every EU member state meets those four criteria. They have a government that isn’t subordinate to another (national governments aren’t subordinate to the EU), and can interact with other countries on an equal basis including via membership of the United Nations. Each also has its own central bank and judiciary, and can form its own military force.
Wales doesn’t have those things, nor the ability to form them. It would have to ask Westminster for the ability to do so. But if it became an independent state it would have the ability to form such institutions and alliances.
A mistaken comparison is often made between the UK and the EU, as if they’re the same. They’re vastly different types of unions. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state made up of three non-sovereign countries, and six counties of Ireland which remained part of the UK after the Irish Free State was formed in 1922 by the other 26 counties of Ireland.
The UK and the EU
The modern version of the UK has a more quasi-federal system, with Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland having various forms of devolution and the UK Government running the devolved areas from England. None of the devolved countries meet all four criteria for being an independent state. It’s the UK Government that sits in the UN, represents them all abroad, and controls the central bank and military.
Also, none of the devolved governments have any say at UK Government level or a seat in the UK cabinet, and theoretically could be abolished by the UK Parliament. Each country sends MPs to parliament, but they often represent UK-level political parties and not the devolved governments. The UK is a state that was never formed for the mutual benefit of its component nations, so one nation is dominant.
The European Union is a voluntary confederation of independent sovereign states. Each state meets the criteria for being a sovereign country as well as being a UN member, with one – France – having a permanent seat on the UN Security council. The EU itself has observer status at the UN but no voting rights, as it’s not a sovereign state. Every EU member has its own military, central bank, and judiciary.
Each member state choses to pool sovereignty in specific areas to make trading, freedom of movement, and cooperation between states easier and for mutual benefit. It gets a seat at the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, and the Court of Justice of the European Union; membership of the European Central Bank; a seat at the European Court of Auditors; and seats in the European Parliament. Each gets the EU presidency every now and then. If Wales was an EU member it would get all of those things.
Wales as an EU member
Whether Wales becomes independent, then joins the EU, will be entirely up to it and its people. What independence would mean, though, is that it would have the full ability to make decisions for itself and in concert with international partners. It would gain the sovereignty to pool with other countries if it chose to do so. If Wales joined the EU, it would have a seat at the table for decision-making. And it wouldn’t be ceding its seat at the UN, its military, or its central bank, or have its national government being subordinate to another.
As part of the UK, the voice and profile of Wales is very limited. The Rhun ap Iorwerth interview on Good Morning clearly showed that the Westminster media just isn’t interested in Wales and what happens there, and has little knowledge of it.
Of course, EU membership isn’t a given for an independent Wales. There are plenty of reasons why it may be more practical for Wales to seek a different relationship with the EU. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is another option.
But if Wales is going to have the power to do either, it needs to become an independent country first. Through that it would gain the ability to have relationships with other countries around the world on a more equal basis. And that includes its closest neighbour, England.
There’s no hypocrisy involved in leaving a union that doesn’t benefit a country then forming other unions that do. Independence means gaining sovereignty, not losing it, Mr Dale.
