Meeting of the Parliament 26 May 2016
I think that I have just made that case. There are 28 independent countries in the EU that can decide for themselves to be part of a market. If Mr Findlay wants to join others to take the UK and Scotland out of that 500 million, he can go and align himself with Boris Johnson.
More than 300,000 Scottish jobs are deemed by the Centre for Economics and Business Research to be associated with exports to the EU, 42 per cent of exports from Scotland go to the EU, and of course Scotland, unlike the UK as a whole, is a net exporter to the EU. That is an economic lesson that Mr Findlay might want to take up.
This week, Ernst & Young revealed that foreign direct investment in Scotland rose by 50 per cent in 2015, securing more than 5,000 jobs, and its survey also found that 79 per cent of investors cited access to the European single market as a key feature of the UK’s attractiveness. I am not saying that all that would crash to a halt if the UK were to leave the EU, but I believe that our EU membership makes investing in Scotland a more attractive and easier prospect. Indeed, I am frequently told as much when I meet partners around the world—and that was especially true during my visit to Japan last year.
There is clear evidence that exporting helps business to become more innovative and successful. Our priority as the Scottish Government is to create jobs in Scotland by leveraging our EU membership to grow our exports, and being in the single market is vital for Scottish businesses to have the best possible opportunities in Europe.
Seven of the top 10 destinations for food and drink, our most significant exporting sector, are in the EU. The new innovation and investment hubs that we are establishing in Dublin, London and Brussels will contribute to that effort and are an example of our Government’s international ambition, which our EU membership facilitates.
In facing the future, being within the EU offers us a better chance to tackle the international big challenges of energy security, climate change and other pressures.
There is no agreement or detail from the leave side about what it is offering for the future. An arrangement similar to the one that Norway has with the EU would leave us subject to all the same rules and as contributors to the EU budget, but without any say in setting those rules or how the budget is allocated. As the former foreign minister of Norway has said, Norway pays but has no say. Norway is the 10th highest contributor to the EU budget. It has to pay in to have access to EU funds such as horizon 2020. Norwegian farmers do not receive common agricultural policy payments. We should also remember that Norway has decided to join Schengen and is now subject to freedom of movement rules.
On calls to be outside the single market, the idea that the UK should model itself on Singapore does not even get off the ground, particularly given the importance that the Singaporean Government places on its membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
I said at the outset that different parties will come to the debate with different perspectives, but I hope that, across parties, we can unite behind the motion and provide leadership to Scotland for the vote ahead.