@WouldBeGood
Yes please *@GreenlandTheMovie*. I’m really interested in that as a concept
There were actually 14 (not 11) references to "special", "specific" or "unique" "Scottish circumstances in the White Paper on Independence (Scotland in the European Union, (Scottish Government, November 2013).
www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-future/
The Scottish Government response to increasing FOI rights was even more astonishing. (as a contributor to the United Kingdom Government's Review of the Balances of Competences, contained in the Scottish Government publication Scotland's Agenda For EU Reform, Section 13):
"Preservation of the current EU position on access to environmental information. While there may be some benefits, harmonising rules across the EU on rights to access environmental information has created confusion among staff in public bodies and members of the public about how they differ from FOISA. Harmonisation does not add to the information rights people already have in Scotland under FOISA and almost all EIR requests come from people located in Scotland so there is no benefit in making it easier for people to make requests in various countries as there seems to be little demand for this;"
While confusion amongst staff members hardly seems a credible reason to justify failing to extend citizen's rights, the denial of the benefits of such requests to those EU citizens who are outwith Scotland seems to contrary to the whole concept of the EU. It is hardly beyond the realms of possibility that even a Scottish citizen may choose to work or study abroad while retaining an interest or property in Scotland that may be affected by access to such rights, or that a non-Scottish resident may have such an interest.
"On the right to access information within the Member States: more EU competence or action is viewed as unnecessary in order to enable citizens to access official environmental information within Scotland;"
"harmonising rules across the EU on rights to access environmental information has created confusion among staff in public bodies and members of the public about how they differ from FOISA. Harmonisation does not add to the information rights people already have in Scotland under FOISA and almost all EIR requests come from people located in Scotland so there is no benefit in making it easier for people to make requests in various countries as there seems to be little demand for this;"
"Scotland and others with freedom of information legislation equivalent to the EIRs being allowed to opt out of the EIRs. This would reduce complexity for requesters and public bodies by allowing all requests to be handled under one regime. We believe Scottish legislation is more appropriate as Scotland already has very robust freedom of information legislation under FOISA which covers all information, including environmental information, and is designed specifically for Scottish circumstances."
www.gov.scot/Resource/0045/00458063.pdf