Your Europe

In the next few pages you will find information about how Europe affects Scotland – the good and the not so good. You will also find answers to the questions I am often asked about being an MEP and see some of the research projects produced by my office as well as see what other opportunities there are to work in the European institutions with my guide on “Opportunities for Bright Scots in Europe”.

The SNP and myself are pro-European. We want to see Scotland, as an independent country, take her seat at the top table in Europe as a full member state. Until that happens I want to see Scotland make the most out of Europe, and for people across Scotland to see that the EU isn’t about straight bananas and banning bagpipes.

We are all EU citizens and that brings us rights not just at home but across the European Union. Europe isn’t some far away place, it’s here in Scotland, over the border in England and around us from Mull to Malta, Gourock to Gdansk. We are part of Europe and I believe Scotland should be playing a major role in the new Europe.

The new Europe is about breaking down barriers between countries, being able to travel easily, to work overseas but being protected while we do so and being assured that in any other EU country we will have many of the rights, as well as the responsibilities, that we have at home.

Europe is not another planet, it is not a world full of aliens and it’s not some dictatorship passing laws down to Scotland. We are part of the EU and as an independent Scotland we, along with other member states, could choose what powers we let the European Union use on our behalf. As an MEP I want to see everyone in Scotland engage with Europe, and I hope the information in this section of the website will help foster this.