On the Nature of Things | Forum

Independence in Europe: Secession, Sovereignty, and the European Union

Christopher K. Connolly†

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1

I. NATIONALISM IN EUROPE’S STATELESS NATIONS: IDENTITY, AUTONOMY, AND THE
ECONOMY ........................................................................................................................6
A. Catalonia: Rising Separatist Sentiment ..............................................................7
B. Scotland: The Road to the Referendum.............................................................11
C. Flanders: Breaking Up “The Most Successful Failed State of All Time” ........14
II. SECESSION AND SELF-DETERMINATION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW..................................20
A. Unilateral Secession: Limits on the Right to Self-Determination.....................21
B. Negotiated Secession: Lessons from Quebec ....................................................27
III. THE EUROPEAN UNION AS A FORUM FOR SELF-DETERMINATION CLAIMS....................34
A. States and Regions ............................................................................................35
B. The Membership Question ................................................................................41
C. The Eurozone Crisis..........................................................................................52
IV. SEPARATISM IN THE MIDST OF INTEGRATION ...............................................................60
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................67

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