AN independent Scotland would have to make significant concessions to have a chance of completing negotiations on EU membership within the SNP's 18-month deadline, a UK cabinet minister has warned.
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael suggested Scottish ministers would have to cave on crucial issues.
His comments come just days after his Scotland Office colleague, Conservative minister David Mundell, warned Alex Salmond would only be able to deliver Independence Day as promised on March 24, 2016, by making "huge concessions" in negotiations with the UK Government.
The SNP insist an independent Scotland will never be outside the EU because it will complete membership negotiations by 2016. Until then, Scotland will remain within the EU as part of the UK. But Mr Carmichael poured scorn on that ambitious timetable.
Experts have raised a number of issues they suggest could be sticking points during negotiations with other European countries. These include on the euro and the Schengen free travel area.
Asked about Mr Mundell's comments and whether he would say the same of EU negotiations, Mr Carmichael said: "I would very much agree with that. I think it is a big tactical blunder to set this timeframe.
"Anybody who thinks they can negotiate both with the UK and accession to the EU in 18 months is kidding themselves."
He also accused the SNP of plucking the 18-month figure "out of the air".
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Scotland can complete the negotiations which will be required following a vote for independence within the 18-month period we have outlined - that is in line with widespread international precedent and is also a timescale described by the UK Government's own legal adviser, Professor James Crawford, as 'realistic'.
"There would be a mutual interest on the part of both Scotland and the rest of the UK in engaging constructively in negotiations after the referendum."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article