Between autonomy and interdependence: Scottish independence and intergovernmental co-ordination

苏格兰独立的支持者一直热衷于强调，独立后的苏格兰将与不列颠群岛的其他国家保持密切联系。这些联系——通常被称为独立的“英国维度”——将不仅仅是人民和商业之间的联系。人们认为，政府有时也会在共同的机构中合作，一些共同的服务可能仍会在边境的北部和南部提供。本研究探索和评估了这些假设，以及这些关联对政府和治理的影响。主要目标是为政治、政策和公众辩论提供有关苏格兰独立的机会和制约因素的信息。它考察了在独立的情况下，苏格兰政府和英国政府（其他部分）之间这种关系的可行性和可能的特征。需要多大程度的政府间协调？现有的机构和进程是否能够促进两个独立国家之间的关系？如果不能，需要建立哪些机构？关键参与者之间的权力关系会是怎样的：一个独立的苏格兰作为一个小主权国家，在与更大更强大的邻国的关系中，是否有权力和影响力？这些关系如何被现有的制度和程序，或者正在讨论的政策的轮廓和突出性所塑造？如何解决争端？为了回答这些问题，这项研究重点关注了两个政策领域——社会保障和能源。如果苏格兰人在独立公投中投了赞成票，这些责任很可能会从英国议会和政府转移到苏格兰议会和政府。然而，由于共享的劳动力市场、共享的能源市场、英伦三岛之间人员、商品和企业的自由流动，以及几十年来共享服务提供的遗产，重叠可能仍然存在。这需要政府之间进行某种程度的协调。这个项目将探讨在每一个这些领域的政府间关系的范围，并考虑这些关系可能具有的特点。我们可能会期望两国在能源领域的关系更容易处理，因为两国政府普遍致力于低碳能源（尽管目前的苏格兰政府已经拒绝了核能），但在社会保障领域则更有问题，因为南北边境的主要政党在福利改革方面存在分歧。为了帮助阐明这些问题，该项目将着眼于其他主权国家及其与邻国的关系。它将研究丹麦及其与其他北欧国家的关系，丹麦与这些国家共享劳动力市场、能源市场、共享政府间机构，并在一定程度上共享文化。该项目还将借鉴爱尔兰的经验。爱尔兰共和国长期以来与英国政府有政府间关系和协议，包括两国公民的共同旅游区，包括共享公共服务的权利。作为英国内部的下放领土，北爱尔兰对社会保障和能源负有责任，必须与英国政府和爱尔兰政府保持联系，以管理重叠、共同关心的问题和共同的责任。这些比较案例将被用来理解独立或半独立国家之间政府间关系的动态，并帮助我制定苏格兰独立后政府间协调可能形成的情景。这项研究将对学术研究作出贡献，并在各种公共活动、媒体投稿和与社会安全和能源领域的主要利益攸关方举行的研讨会上向更广泛的受众传达。

Supporters of Scottish independence have been keen to emphasize that an independent Scotland would maintain close ties to the other nations of the British Isles after independence. These ties - often dubbed 'the British dimension' of independence - would not just be between people and business. It is assumed that governments would also sometimes work together in shared institutions and that some common services may still be delivered north and south of the border. This research explores and evaluates these assumptions, and the impact such associations would have for government and governing. A primary goal is to inform political, policy and public debates on the opportunities and constraints of Scottish independence. It examines the feasibility and likely character of these kinds of relationships between the Scottish government and the (rest of) UK government in the event of independence. How much inter-governmental co-ordination would be necessary? Are existing institutions and processes capable of facilitating relations between two independent countries, and if not, what institutions would need to be put in place? And what would be the power relationship between the key players: could an independent Scotland as a small sovereign country have power and influence in its relations with its much larger and more powerful neighbour? How might these relations be shaped by the institutions and procedures in place, or the profile and salience of the policies under discussion? And how would disputes be resolved?To help answer these questions, the research takes a focused look at two policy areas - social security and energy. If Scots voted YES in the independence referendum, it is likely that responsibility for these would shift from the UK parliament and government to the Scottish parliament and government. However, overlaps may remain as a result of the shared labour market, shared energy market, the free movement of people, goods and business across the British Isles, and the legacy of shared service provision over many decades. These would require some degree of co-ordination between governments. This project will explore the scope for intergovernmental relations in each of these fields and consider the likely character that these relations may have. We might expect relations to be more manageable in the energy field, where both governments broadly share a commitment to low carbon energy (albeit that the current Scottish government has rejected nuclear energy), but more problematic in the field of social security, given the competing views on welfare reform among the leading parties north and south of the border.To help shed light on these issues, the project will look to other sovereign countries and their relations with their neighbours. It will study Denmark and its relations with the other Nordic countries, with whom Denmark shares a labour market, energy market, shared intergovernmental institutions and in part a shared culture. The project will also draw insights from Ireland. The Irish Republic has long had intergovernmental relationships and agreements with the UK government, including a common travel area for their citizens that includes shared entitlements to public services. As a devolved territory within the UK, Northern Ireland has responsibility for social security and energy, and must liaise with both the UK government and the Irish government to manage overlaps, matters of mutual concern and shared responsibilities. These comparative cases will be used to understand the dynamics of intergovernmental relations between independent or semi-independent countries, and to help me to develop scenarios of how intergovernmental co-ordination might take shape after Scottish independence.The research will make a contribution to academic study and be conveyed to broader audiences in a wide variety of public events, media contributions and seminars with key stakeholders in the fields of social security and energy.