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[Peter Singer] Do regions have a right to secede from countries?

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Published : 2014-07-13 20:14
Updated : 2014-07-13 20:14


Independence for a small state outside of a political and economic group like the EU would be risky nowadays. Within the EU, however, the barriers between states ― and thus the economic and political risks of independence ― are lower.





What if a region’s secession leaves behind a rump state that is no longer viable? Within the EU, this is less of an issue, given that small states ― in theory ― still benefit from free trade within the Union; but, outside of the EU, the situation of the remaining state can be dire.



The U.K. and Spain do not need to fear that independence for Scotland and Catalonia would expose them to such threats. Nonetheless, the secession of Scotland would deprive the U.K. of significant North Sea oil revenues, on which the economics of Scottish independence largely relies, and Spain could also suffer from the loss of Catalonia’s disproportionately large contribution to the Spanish economy.




The EU is also unlikely to accept Scotland or Catalonia as a member if the U.K. or Spain rejects their claims to independence. Indeed, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said that the EU may reject Scotland and Catalonia’s applications, or at least delay them considerably, even if the U.K. and Spain do accept their independence. And, without EU membership, it is hard to imagine that a majority of people in Scotland or Catalonia would take the plunge into economic uncertainty that independence would bring.


By Peter Singer

Peter Singer is professor of bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of “Practical Ethics, One World, The Life You Can Save,” and, most recently, “The Point of View of the Universe” (co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek).

(Project Syndicate)