Scotland’s Place in Europe

SCOTLAND’S PLACE IN EUROPE | 11
37. The impact of a changed relationship with the EU will be variable across sectors
and regions. Higher impacts will potentially be felt in sectors where tariffs are
reintroduced, regulatory barriers are prominent, which are dependent on workers
from other parts of the EU, or where we rely on EU structural funds, for example,
for infrastructure projects. Sectors like financial services have significant spillovers
into other parts of the economy and, therefore, any slowdown here will impact
more widely on people and businesses.
38. Rural Scotland may face particular issues from a changed relationship with the EU.
The European Single Market and EU funding help to support investment in
superfast broadband, business development, housing investment and measures to
address fuel poverty along with other regional initiatives to support inclusive
growth. The food and drink sector, which includes agriculture, fishing, and food and
drink manufacturing, is heavily reliant on EU funding and the single market. The
sector is vital to the Scottish economy, with an annual turnover of around
£14.4 billion, contributing £5.3 billion in gross value added (GVA) and employing
just over 116,000 people. It is estimated that around 8,000 people employed in the
food and drink sector are non-UK EU nationals and up to 15,000 non-UK seasonal
migrant workers are employed in the soft fruit and vegetable sectors for harvest in
summer and autumn. The EU is Scotland’s most important regional market for food
and drink exports, worth £2 billion and accounting for 39% of Scotland’s total
overseas food and drink exports.
39. Membership of the European Single Market is therefore central both to the health
of our economy and our prosperity as a nation. It:
a) enables Scottish exporters to be inside the world’s largest single market and
allows our citizens to buy goods and services from any other part of the single
market free from import taxes or other barriers;
b) ensures that our component manufacturers can prosper in the complex supply
chains that characterise contemporary production systems;
c) ensures a level playing field for our exporters, and protection for our consumers,
by setting common product and trading rules (including production rules) across
the EU that must be met before a product can be sold – rules governing weight,
size, packaging, ingredients, labelling, shelf-life conditions, and testing and
certification procedures;
d) means that companies engaged in selling services such as financial products
have so-called “passporting” rights, allowing them to sell directly to consumers
across the EU; and
e) allows people and companies – architects, engineers, students, tourists,
haulage companies to name only a few – to move around the EU and establish
businesses, build careers and live their lives free from discrimination.