EUROPEAN UNION AND SELF DETERMINATION: THE CASE OF SCOTLAND

After the war, the European countries chose not only to avoid a new war, but also they have chosen to be integrated on the grounds of economic development. In this process, European identity creation studies utilized the images used in the process of nation-state and national identity formation. The countries that make up the EU come from many different nationalities. In this sense, the common European identity-building efforts are aimed at building on the understanding of "Unity in Diversity" which does not abolish national identities. However, this understanding, which has achieved a certain level at the national level in the EU, is partially lacking in Britain, Spain and France due to ethnicity-based demands. For example, in the UK there is a Scottish ethnic group. The Scottish people demanded their independence. So, the British government allowed the Scottish to organize a referendum on independence. Despite the absence of constitutional obstacles the majority of the Scottish voted no in the referendum. This decision of the Scottish people is quite remarkable when it is assessed by the approach of "the nation's self-determination". In this study, the concepts of identity, ethnic identity and ethnic group will be briefly examined in reference to the theory of self-determination. Then, the vote of the Scottish during the independence referendum will be evaluated within the framework of self-determination. Finally, the study will investigate the effect of the EU in the Scottish independence referendum in the context of “Self-Determination”