Independence movements within Europe reflect a changing world

Independence movements within Europe have gained increasing traction in recent years. Scotland officially held its own referendum on the 18th of September and Catalonia has recently come to loggerheads with the Spanish Government over previous plans to hold a non-binding referendum on the 9th of November. Artur Mas the President of Catalonia has now declared his intention to hold a poll on the same date under a different legal framework, with the hope that a majority support will kickstart progress towards independence in the future. The region of Veneto in North-Eastern Italy also held a referendum in the middle of March this year, although it was also non-binding, unofficial and conducted entirely online. It has been claimed that 89% of those polled voted for independence, although there have been doubts cast on participation numbers (estimated 63% of eligible voters). However, official polls after the event suggested that around 78% of people want independence so for all the failings of the online poll, there is clearly a movement for independence within the population.

Aside from regions that are actively seeking independence, some communities have gone one step further and effectively act independent despite not being officially recognised. One such example is Marinaleda in Southern Spain, which Jen Wilton and Liam Barrington-Bush wrote about in July. There are also more complex regions such as North Kosovo, which has an ethnic Serb majority and rejects Kosovo’s declaration of independence made in 2008, but isn’t recognised by either the Serbian Government or the UN. I won’t be including North Kosovo in this piece but it an interesting case nonetheless.

Scotland: The dominant narrative of the ‘Yes’ campaign in Scotland was one of social justice and the chance for Scotland to control its own affairs, driven by Scotland’s vast natural wealth and opposition to the UK Government’s economic policy. Scotland’s GDP per capita (including a geographical share of North Sea oil) stands at £27,700 while the GDP per capita of the UK as a whole is just over £24,000 according to the World Bank. This was often cited as a reason why Scotland could comfortably function as an independent country and with greater relative wealth in a smaller country, more could be done to tackle the issues of poverty and inequality. The independence referendum recorded a ‘No’ majority of 55%, but the independence movement continues, raising a whole host of options for the future. Growing support for the SNP and a burgeoning membership of 80,000+ raises the possibility of them holding around 15–20 seats, potentially considerably more, in the next Westminster Government and an overwhelmingly pro-independence Government in Scotland in 2016. Both situations would strengthen calls for another referendum, particularly if plans for further devolution fall short of expectation. It could even transpire that with a collapsing Liberal Democrat vote the SNP could be the 3rd largest party in Westminster next year. The possibility of a national split regarding a referendum on EU involvement could even lead to another referendum in the near future.

Catalonia: Speaking to a Enric Blanes, a Catalan activist in Barcelona, he told me that a push for recentralisation associated with Spanish supremacy beginning in 2002 laid the groundwork for Catalan independence. He explained how Catalonia had always been an autonomous community since the Spanish Constitution in 1978 but that autonomy became increasingly under threat through a lack of investment, attacks on the Catalan language, a Spanish-centric media and unfair competition between Madrid and Barcelona. In September 2009, a small town Arenys De Munt held a symbolic vote on regional sovereignty beginning what is known as the Catalan deluge. Since that vote, numerous other votes have taken place and the push for independence has culminated in a poll being called for the 9th of November. Catalonia has 7.5 million people, 16% of Spain’s population but is also Spain’s economic powerhouse, contributing 19% to national output. Furthermore, there is an 8% deficit between the amount of money that Catalonia pays to Spain and the amount received while around 80% of Catalans believe they pay too much and don’t receive enough from the Spanish state. This disconnection between Catalonia and Spain is reflected in national identity, many Catalans do not consider themselves Spanish in any way. Enric went on to say that they have tried to develop a working solution more than a 100 years but this hasn’t worked in their eyes, a sentiment shared by many Catalans. Given the hostility of the Spanish Government to the question of Catalan independence, a group of activists from Barcelona said to me that they fully expect a declaration of independence to follow if there was majority support in a referendum, as laid out in this report (p.126–131) by the Government of Catalonia.

Veneto: Calls for Venetian independence have become louder in recent years although the movement itself has a long history. It is well known that the Venetian Republic operated for over 1000 years as a successful state, becoming a commercial superpower with unrivalled influence in the Mediterranean. This successful history underpins the independence movement today, the region of Veneto existed long before what we now know as the state of Italy. Speaking to the political party ‘Indipendenza Veneta’, they explained how a sense of economic injustice drives the movement, as they receive 6,000 Euros / per person less from the Italian Government each year than they give. If Veneto became independent they expect Veneto to run a ‘public credit’ with no debt due to a strong economy: a GDP growing around 12% year on year, a total GDP larger than 10 other European countries and a per capita GDP of over £23,000, larger than Italy with around £21,000. The independence movement is dominated by the idea of the citizen above the state, a rejection of all forms of discrimination, acceptance of international law and a path of democratic non-violence.

Marinaleda: Marinaleda is a small town with a population less than 3000, located in the province of Seville in the south of Spain. While the other areas mentioned above seek independence, Marinaleda effectively acts as an independent community. The town has been involved in a lengthy sociopolitical struggle which has included occupying aristocratic land, hunger strikes and marching in Madrid to support a union leader who was sentenced to go to jail. General assemblies are regularly called, allowing citizens a direct say on decisions that affect them. The idea of a collective permeates through Marinaleda, from the devolution of power into the hands of citizens to a housing cooperative that has resulted in €15/month mortgages and an alternative economy based on direct action and mutual aid. In the wake of the financial crisis and Spain’s subsequent housing crash and high unemployment, the Mayor Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo slammed the idea of the free market, saying that “now, we see we have to put the economy at the service of man.” Marinaleda offers a useful insight into the values and ideals that many people within the larger independence movements aspire to.

Each movement has a different history and they face different challenges, but there are some interesting similarities in how the movements have developed and their message. While Marinaleda is perhaps founded a more radical vision, all the movements appear to be based on the common principle that citizens want more influence to shape the society around them. In Marinaleda this takes the form of general assemblies and a collective culture, in Scotland, Catalonia and Veneto this would take the shape of a government more representative to local needs. We seen during the Scottish referendum that many Scots did not feel that the UK Government represented them, this is borne out in the low representation that Scotland has within the UK Parliament (59 seats out of a total 650) leading to a parliament that is heavily influenced by English votes as they have a larger representation (533 seats). Although this isn’t a problem in itself, a political boundary exists between Scotland and England meaning that comparisons between the politics of both countries are always likely to be drawn. This has manifested itself in the aftermath of Johann Lamont’s resignation as the leader of Labour in Scotland, raising the question of whether UK Labour policies are effective in Scotland. Scotland has a long history of predominantly voting Labour in General Elections while the Scottish Parliament has been dominated formerly by Labour and now the SNP, since the first elections in 1999. The rapid rise of UKIP is also far less pronounced in Scotland, suggesting that over the next few years the politics of Scotland and England are likely to diverge even further.

A similar disconnection is also felt in Catalonia as the Spanish Government has consistently refused to push for official EU recognition of the Catalan language despite it being spoken by over 9 million people. The hostility of the Spanish Government towards Catalan secession has done little to suppress the movement, recent moves to declare a possible referendum illegal via the constitutional court has only enforced the idea among pro-independence Catalans that independence is the only way forward. A supposed lack of a voice is something evident in these independence movements. Scotland has had a decreasing amount of MEPs (formerly 8, now 6) the same as Estonia and Malta, with Scotland’s voice drowned out within a wider UK context. Many supporters of Scottish independence look to Scandinavia for examples of small nations that have greater representation within the European Parliament and successfully operate as a small Northern European state. A similar situation arises in Venice which currently sends 6 MEPs but would increase to 13 in the event of independence.

An important aspect of these movements is the global nature of a perceived future state, dismissing any notion of insularity. Scotland, Catalonia and Veneto all intend to join the EU, while both Catalonia and Veneto also plan to the use the Euro. There is no precedent for a modern secession state in Europe faced with this situation so negotiations would need to take place, although the European Commission does not support the idea of any new secession state within Europe, given the economic turbulence of the last few years. It is this economic turbulence that has provided a foundation for these independence movements to propose a new economic and political path. In Scotland, opposition to the UK Government’s austerity programme was a strong feature in the debate while both Spain and Italy have been severely affected by the economic downturn.

The nation state is a relatively recent phenomenon, multiethnic empires were still around at the beginning of the 20th Century. Many scholars have theorised about the future of the nation state, indeed an increasingly globalised world is reducing barriers between people and free market economics reduces the role of government. Theories about the dissolution of states range from one world government to a more local community based system system (Marinaleda is one example of this). This is where questions about how a nation state should be constructed arise. For example, Catalonia has existed as a distinct cultural nation for considerably longer than ‘Spain’ has and has even been under French protection in the past so it comes as no surprise that many Catalans don’t identify with Spain in the slightest. Veneto is much the same, both Italy and Spain are comprised of different historical regions that often have their own distinct culture and identity; there has been a notable strengthening of Catalan identity in recent years. It is at the nexus of culture, values and history that these independence movements seek to create a new state for themselves.

Within a European context, these independence movements are less about ethnicity and more about creating an effective political structure that will serve their needs better than the situation they find themselves in now. It is clear within Scotland and Catalonia that many people have given up hope of the UK or Spanish state ever implementing significant reform. There is a democratic deficit, both in Scotland’s case of being ruled by a UK Government that often isn’t representative of the way it voted and the wider principle of citizen engagement. Democracy should allow citizens to shape their future in a meaningful way and the will of the people should be the basis of authority of government. In this sense, growing support for any independence movement begins to de-legitimise the current political structure.

These independence movements represent a move towards decentralisation, the referendum in Scotland has politically energised the nation and there are now regular meetings based around values such as The Common Weal. It has also encouraged people to think about how they would like a future state to be run, there was a strong push towards crowdsourcing a constitution and many people advocating a republic suggested having a council as head of state rather than a president with one suggestion that the citizens of Scotland should be a collective head of state. Although the SNP wanted the Queen to remain head of state, the outpouring of ideas associated with the referendum typifies the political energy now within Scotland. Within a smaller state, participatory politics is easier to implement as we can see in both Iceland and Switzerland. Given the massive engagement with each independence movement, a more representative and participatory politics is likely to emerge.

Independence movements in Europe represent a changing world where citizens want greater influence over the politics that affect their lives. In these particular movements this is achieved by creating a more local and representative politics that is still based within the security of an outward looking and increasingly postnationalist Europe. The referendum in Scotland has kick-started a worldwide conversation about secession while the consultation in Catalonia on the 9th of November will be vital for determining how they move forward. Igor Calzada has suggested that a new regional order based on dynamic city-regions and small nations is emerging in Europe, underpinned by a mix of economic renewal and cultural identity. It’s possible that we will see a new European state within the next few years, opening up the possibility of a new type of politics that utilises the benefits of globalisation but is more representative and adaptable locally.

Originally published at www.contributoria.com.