THE PRESIDENT of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has repeated a warning that an independent Scotland would face difficulties negotiating entry to the EU.
At a meeting in Brussels he backed the views of the European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, who last week said an independent Scotland would face a "difficult, if not impossible" task to win support from all 28 EU member states.
He told a meeting of centre right MEPs from across Europe: "I said exactly the same as President Barroso a few months ago when I was in Madrid and the government of Catalonia decided to launch a campaign on a referendum.
"I said they would have to become an accession state and apply to join the EU."
Scotland's Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson said: "This latest revelation further torpedoes the SNP's claims that an independent Scotland would easily waltz into the European Union upon a 'Yes' vote in September.
"As the President of the European Council, the body made up of all of the EU's member states, Van Rompuy will know better than anyone the hard road ahead for an independent Scotland should it reapply to the EU as an accession state."
LibDem MEP George Lyon said: "So far the SNP's only response to anyone who disagrees with them on EU membership has been to attack the messenger.
"This is a significant intervention from one of the most serious EU players around. President Van Rompuy's comments cannot simply be dismissed as bluff or bluster."
The European Council sets the broad political direction of the EU, while the European Commission proposes and upholds laws.
Mr Barroso said Scotland could face opposition from some EU countries which did not wish to encourage separatist movements within their own borders.
The Scottish Governments claims an independent Scotland would be fast-tracked to EU membership on the same terms and conditions the country enjoys as part of the UK.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has insisted an independent Scotland could not be forced to join the euro single currency and would be able to opt-out of the Schengen free travel areas, allowing it instead to remain part of the UK and Ireland's alternative common travel zone.
She said yesterday the warnings were "preposterous".
She added: "Scotland is already in the EU and has been for 40 years.
"The fact of the matter is that no member state has said that it would veto Scotland's continuing membership."
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