This week's Agenda comes live from the basement of the Berlaymont, the European Commission's Brussels mothership where we have been hearing from the horse's mouth the Eurocrats views on Scottish independence.

They are surprisingly frank, though their emphasis on Scottish EU membership being a matter for member states suggests the fuss about the Scottish Government's "legal opinion" misses the point. Nevertheless, with Euroscepticism on the rise across the continent, the Commission seems cheered by the slavishly pro-Brussels signalling of the Scottish Government, as laid out in last month's very useful Europe 2020 document detailing Scotland's enthusiasm for getting with the continent-wide reform programme.

In his introduction, John Swinney details how the country has used £1.3 billion in Euro funding since 2007, and aligns us closely with delivering growth, improving labour-market participation, innovation, low carbon and equity. Swinney says the Scottish Government "will continue to highlight the distinct approach being pursued in Scotland" – but as there is nothing here that the UK couldn't agree with, that distinction is largely rhetorical.

Alyn Smith MEP tells us Scotland's governing party has its own Eurosceptics, but as a whole the SNP believe sticking close to Brussels is popular with voters and equates to influence on the big decisions affecting Scotland.

Having witnessed a joint press conference between Commission President Barroso and French President Hollande, this latter point seems open to question. Hollande's paeans of praise for "community method" and the need for "more Europe - in times of difficulty" were rewarded with what struck this observer as a silky but fairly brutal public carpeting by Barroso as the price of a two-year extension of France's deficit reduction plan. Barroso pointedly said he was hoping France would come up with a "credible" growth plan, a rare diplomatic slip (or was it?) he spent the rest of the press conference digging himself out of.