The struggle for independence is not a new topic in Europe as the region’s history depicts a myriad of conflicts that occurred for the sake of independence from monarchies and the desire for self-governance. Throughout the past centuries, larger European empires broke down into smaller states while others merged to their partners or faded entirely. However, even after the Great Wars have ended, there were still factions hoping to separate themselves from their respective countries in the hopes of reestablishing their identities prior to their inclusion to larger countries. Catalonia, for instance, has been actively working on pushing for its self-governance and separation from Spain while the Scotland and the Flemish are also doing the same in the United Kingdom and Belgium respectively. Considering their desire for independence, it is a question as to where these independence movements act similarly and where they differ greatly; as well as its impact to the European Union. Although each independence movements in Catalonia, Scotland and Flanders aimed to establish their respective national identities and establish their right to self-governance for their own future and their secession may cause the EU to step in, independence for Catalonia remains difficult in comparison to both Scotland and Belgium as the Spanish government remains adamant that any action calling for secession is against the constitution.
Spain can be considered one of the Europe’s major powerhouses in the early 15th century as the country’s political and economic influence rivals that of Great Britain, France and Portugal. However, the country was not as immense as some parts of the country previously had a separate ruler such as in the case of Catalonia. Prior to the 1469 consolidation of the Spanish territories with the marriage between Ferdinand and Isabella, Catalonia was under the Crown of Aragon and considered as the most influential trading empires in Europe. After the marriage of the Spanish monarchs and extended their influence in Catalonia and nearby territories, Catalonia remained adherent to its own version of currency, tax system, language and culture . However, Catalonia lost its right to self-governance in the 18th century due to the War of Spanish Succession. The conflict began with the death of King Charles II of Habsburg, who gave the Spanish throne to Felipe Bourbon of France due to him being childless. However, the Grand Alliance of England, Prussia, Austria and England – including Catalonia – supported Archduke Charles of Austria to accede to the Spanish throne due to the possibility of France getting more leverage in the region. However, with Archduke Charles taking the Habsburg Empire, France managed to gain momentum and prevent the Habsburg rising with an oath that France will not unite Spain .
Regardless of Spain’s obvious attempts to downplay its self-governance, Catalan nationalists were ok to work with the new political structure that even the largest political party of the region – the Covergencia i Unio (CiU) – stopped its efforts to call for Catalonia’s secession from Spain. Unfortunately, on June 2006, Catalans voted for the amendments for the Statute of Autonomy that would grant more influence and power for the Generalitat. Spain immediately thwarted the enforcement of the revised Statute and by June 2010, the Spanish Constitutional Court’s decision – STC 31/2010 – stopped the enforcement of several parts of the revised Statute. The Court’s decision triggered Catalan sentiment to support independence from Spain as the action clearly violated their rights and disrespected Catalonia’s national identity and self-governance. For the Catalan public, the State is working against their interests and disables them from continuous cultural and economic growth .
Catalonian independence groups also cited that the economic issues between Catalan and Spain is also a major reason why the region aims to move away from Spain. Although Catalonia may be considered the wealthiest region in Spain, its taxes are sent straight to the central government and the remittance that is sent for the Catalan government’s use is too small for the region’s needs and services. Both Spain and Catalonia had also argued against the fiscal disparity between their respective economic status. For Spain, they blame Catalonia and its self-government for its free-spending qualities that triggered Spain’s economic turmoil. On their side, Catalonia blames Spain for its inability to manage its finances and cited that the region could not even keep up with its development due to the misappropriation of public funds meant for the region. Several calls for an economic reform program from Catalonia was proposed to Spain, but on September 11, 2012, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy rejected the tax revenue plan. The Generalitat responded immediately with the establishment of a referendum that would discuss Catalonia’s independence in November 2012. By January 2013, the Declaration of Sovereignty was declared that would push for a referendum in 2014 and solidifies Catalonia’s right to determine its political future despite Spain’s efforts to stop it .
On November 9, 2014, the residents of Catalonia voted for a referendum that would determine Catalonia’s overall position regarding secession from Spain. According to the Catalan government, 2 million residents took part in the referendum which would push for a formal referendum of discussing the secession of Catalonia from Spain. A majority of the voters who took part in this symbolic referendum in the hopes of showing that they are open to democratic negotiations with Spain regarding their formal separation from the country. For Spain and anti-independence parties in Catalonia, the referendum was nothing more but a ploy and ruse to derail the country. According to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, what occurred in the Catalan Referendum would not take effect and even called for the public to “return to sanity”. The Catalan Civil Society also indicated that the turnout is also very small, highlighting that not all Catalans are interested in separating themselves from Spain .
Similar to the plight of the Catalan people, Scotland’s inclusion to the United Kingdom was brought by a political or royal marriage. England feared the possibility that a separate Scottish monarch would use its independence to establish alliances with other countries such as France and use such alliance to attack England. Like Catalonia, England and Scotland’s respective parliaments established their respective acts of union. However, unlike Catalonia, Scotland was ok with the union primarily because the region was reeling from the impacts of an economic crisis due to their attempts to establish a colony in Caledonia in 1698 to 1700. The company which tried to sell the idea to the Scottish people went bankrupt and many Scottish industries were unable to recover due to the venture. The English Treasury pledged they will provide “bail outs” to assist in Scottish recovery and eventually triggered their consent to join England . Both countries benefited to the Union and England respected Scottish identity and treated them as equals. Scottish identity also flourished while under the English leadership as seen after the repealing of the Dress Act of 1746 in 1782 which permitted the use of Scotland’s traditional clothing .
Although both Scotland and England experience the same growth and equal treatment, the Scottish independence movement under the Scottish National Party (SNP) grew in the 1960s when they won the parliamentary by-elections with a landslide victory. The SNP pushed for Scottish independence due to the economic inequalities and political and cultural difference of both territories. In the economic extent, Scotland’s per capital gross domestic product is higher than Britain’s GDP capacity and it has a lower unemployment rate. The discovery of the oil reserves in the North Sea in 1970 caused the nationalist parties in Scotland to press their control in the region given its location and they also claim that it would permit Scotland to survive as an independent state. Scotland and Britain also varied greatly when it comes to wage differences . In a political and cultural degree, the British political parties – specifically the Conservative Party- tried to alienated the Scottish government as they did not want Scotland to call for independence in the 1990s. Many Scottish citizens did not appreciate this as they were used to self-governance and lack of influence from London . Although Scotland has gained the right to their own parliament through the Scotland Act of 1998, the SNP continued to push for an independence referendum after the SNP secured a slot in the first majority government of Scotland in 2011. Almost immediately, SNP fought for the establishment of an independence referendum which resulted to the 2012 Edinburgh Agreement. This agreement permitted Scotland to hold a binding referendum regarding its secession from the UK before December 31st, 2014 .
The binding referendum took place on September 2014 with more than 2 million people voting in 26 voting districts throughout the region. Although pre-referendum polls showed that many people wanted independence from Britain, the results showed that 54.2% or at least 1,397,077 votes were against Scottish independence while 45.7% or 1,176,952 votes hoping for independence. Although the SNP had stressed that they admit defeat in this round, the fact that the margin between the two points is not that far off from one another. The British government has noted this instance and enabled Scotland to establish its own taxation scheme for its people and give them more leeway when it comes to their economic and political decision making. With the results of the referendum, even the English voters are divided as to how they would treat their Scottish counterparts .
Unlike Scotland and Catalonia which has a long history of independence even before they were merged to the UK and Spain respectively, the Flanders do not have the same history. The region did not even have the idea of a “Belgian identity” since the country consisted several provinces that were originally under the Netherlands. Even after gaining their respective independence, the Belgian people don’t have an identity they could easily share because the new country of Belgium was divided with the Dutch-speaking northern territories or the Flanders and the French-speaking southern territories or the Wallonia. It was the south which mostly controlled and dominated in Belgium and French was used as the main language of the country in all sectors and even Brussels, a city located in Flanders, had transformed into a French-speaking city. The Francophone Wallonia developed Belgium’s economy and ignored the Flanders, seeing them as uneducated and backward peasants that cannot assist in development. With the treatment of the Francophone south towards the Flanders, the Flemish movement slowly grew in the 19th to 20th centuries and fought mostly for greater equality, especially in the use of the Dutch language. The Flemish movement pressured the Belgian government to practice Dutch in official documentation, which Belgium had indeed done by 1963.
However, with the end of the Second World War, the situation of both Wallonia and Flanders were reversed as it was now the Flanders now reaping the benefits of a modern economy while Wallonia’s industries have shut down and required subsidies from the national government. The political system has also changed drastically in the country as the country now became a decentralized federal state that divided the region into three: Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia. With the differences in practice in languages and the nature of their entire system, the Flemish movement had already managed the ‘separation’ it wished from the rest of Belgium and even if is still considered as a part of Belgium. The 2007 elections further divided Belgium and pushed for Flemish self-rule, causing the country to experience a deadlock and the lack of national government throughout 2011. On December 2011, the coalition government was established to at least alleviate the ailing political and economic status of the country, but the N-VA remained against a coalition and pushed for independence .
Considering the discussion of secession of these three regions from their respective countries, the international community and the regional neighbors of these affected countries – such as the EU - would no doubt be interested to intervene as it would challenge the status quo in the region. International and domestic law has ruled against secession; however, there are statutes or treaties such as the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1978 which stressed that state succession is ok given pre-existing treaties that gives a region their self-identity and governance. However, should secession take place, the size of the original or parent state and its population would still retain its EU membership. If Catalonia, Scotland and Flanders would aim to join the EU, they would need to get the consent of the EU member countries – which includes their parent states . The EU would also find itself at a quandary as it would need to decide if they should protect the parent State’s sovereignty or support the separating territory under the Treaty of Lisbon. This problem would trigger a legal impasse in the region and add further complications to European stability .
Independence is a concept that is not just used by people to stress their capacity to decide on their own as countries also have this sentiment. In the case of Catalonia, Scotland and Flanders, their desire for self-governance is warranted due to the identities they have established for themselves throughout history and the economic prosperity that comes along self-governance. Evidences of inequality in all aspects pressed these regions to call for separation. However, the response of their respective governments have varied exponentially as Britain and even Belgium were open to a compromise with these seceding regions unlike Catalonia as the Spanish government continued to undermine independence. While the international and regional organizations like the EU can intervene, the legal complexities of the issue may further deteriorate the region’s stability. It is necessary that a compromise is considered for all three cases which would cater to the reasons why these three regions wish to separate in the first place and create a way to alleviate their concerns to sustain the current status quo in the region.
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