THE European Commission is "99.9%" behind the campaign to keep Scotland in the United Kingdom, according to its Spanish vice president.

In one of the most hardline statements yet of Brussels hostility to independence, Joaquín Almunia claimed near complete backing from his colleagues against "dead end" and economically damaging constitutional debates.

Speaking on Basque Radio, the Spanish socialist said 99.9% of the commission thought that it would be "much better if Scotland stayed in the UK".

He added: "In January I was at the World Economic Forum in Davos where I met investors who were really scared about the situations that could develop in Scotland if Yes wins and about the debate that is taking place in the UK about who would be responsible for the debt, about what would happen to the oil and about what would happen with currency."

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last month told the BBC Andrew Marr Show that it would "be difficult if not impossible" for Scotland to join the European Union, sparking astonishment across the continent.

Brussels spin doctors have moved to play down the remarks with some Commission figures stressing the EU did not wish to lose territory in either Scotland or Catalonia.

As The Herald revealed this weekend, several European conservatives, including David Cameron's one-time continental ally former Czech President Vaclav Klaus, have dismissed this suggestion as "arrogant".